


This Is Not What I Meant, When I Said I Wanted To Know You Better

by SimplyAbsolute



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Body Swap, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Mutual Pining, POV Adora (She-Ra), POV Catra (She-Ra), Swearing, Takes place after season 2, not really angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-08-23 16:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20246182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyAbsolute/pseuds/SimplyAbsolute
Summary: Adora just wanted to understand what drives Catra. She didn't expect to wake up and find herself back in the Horde in her ex-best friend's body and Catra certainly didn't expect to find herself in Bright Moon. Will they be able to keep up the act of pretending to be one another and remain undetected, or will the people around them notice something is off before they can find one another and figure out how to get their bodies back?Body Swap AUFormatting updated as of December 17, 2019.





	1. A Potion for Undiscovered Motivations

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! I saw this prompt for a body swap au on Tumblr and it inspired me to write my first fanfic ever! Hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter basically sets up the prompt of how the body swap happens.

The air smelled like ash and dust as the best friend squad made their way through the ruins of a small civilian town on the outskirts of the Whispering Woods. The town was recently attacked, but unfortunately the princesses were not able to get there in time. It was an unexpected and uncalled for ambush from the Horde. The town was located on neutral territory and had kept to themselves during the war.

“Why would the Horde attack a place like this?” Bow asked the group as he gestured to the area around them.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t make any sense!” Adora exclaimed. “This town wasn’t a threat to the Horde at all!”

“They probably just did this to spite us.” Glimmer simply stated with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Glimmer!” Bow called out.

“What? You know it’s true!” She responded.

While Bow and Glimmer were bickering, Adora decided to investigate the ruins more closely, looking for any signs of confirmation of who could have done this, even though she already knew in the back of her mind who it was. And lo and behold when she rounded a building, tacked to a tree in front of her was a piece of paper that read _Hey Adora_.

_Of course_, she thought, who else would attack and innocent civilian town in the middle of nowhere just for fun? _Catra_. She was always looking for a way to get under Adora’s skin and this had definitely done so.

Glimmer and Bow had finally realized that Adora had wandered off and had caught up to her, while Adora still clutched the note in her hand.

“Hey, did you find anything?” Bow asked her.

“I know who did this…” Adora said through an exhale.

“Who?” He questioned.

“Catra.”

Glimmer raised her hands in the air before speaking. “Well, DUH! She is always doing stuff like this just to mess with us and throw us off track. She probably planning something else while we are just standing here in the middle of the woods!”

“ARGHHHH I just wish I could understand her motivations better.” Adora said as she pinched the arch of her nose.

“Didn’t you two grow up together? Shouldn’t you know a lot about her already?” Glimmer spoke like she was uttering simple facts.

Adora sighed. “Yes, but the Catra I knew would never had done something like this… and you know I always try to look for the good in people Glimmer!”

“Alright guys, I think we all should just head back to Bright Moon, there’s nothing here left to salvage any way and all the civilians have fled. A good night’s rest will do us some good and then we can return tomorrow to see if anyone has come back.” Bow spoke.

Glimmer nodded. “Sounds good to me. Adora?”

Adora continued to survey her surroundings before speaking again. “You guys go on and head back, I think going to stay out here a little while longer.”

“You sure?” Bow asked skeptically. “The Whispering Woods do get a little creepy at night. Wait, who am I kidding they’re always creepy! Especially when you’re alone!”

Adora smiled. “I’ll be fine, and I promise to be extra vigilant.” She said reassuringly.

“Okay…” Bow droned. “…but be back before sundown.”

“Bow you’re starting to sound like my Mom…” Glimmer interjected with a roll of her eyes. “Adora, just be careful and we’ll keep dinner warm for you. See you later!”

Glimmer started playfully pushing Bow as he waved goodbye. As soon as they were out of sight, Adora began to wonder who could best help her in her quest for answers. She knew Light Hope had a ubiquitous amount of information but getting that information out of her was harder than it sounded, especially when it came to trivial things such as emotions and attachments. There was only one other person that she knew of that might have answers for her. She now knew who she wanted to talk to, so she headed off in the general direction she remembered last seeing that little cottage in the woods.

* * *

As Catra made her way back to the Horde, she found herself walking down the many hallways towards Entrapta’s lab, where she knew Scorpia would be waiting too. The cold chill of the Horde and loud humming of machinery was an oddly confronting thing to Catra, she did grow up here after all, and the smell of metal and rust was what made her feel like she was _home_, even if there was something or rather someone still missing from her life. She suddenly found herself standing in front of the door to the lab and could already hear Entrapta and Scorpia babbling about something surly unimportant. The door slid open and Entrapta was under Emily trying to fix one of the robot’s panels that had apparently fallen off and Scorpia was attempting to help her.

Catra cleared her throat

“Kitty!” Scorpia exclaimed. Immediately forgetting her task to ‘help’ Entrapta. “You’re back! How was your scouting mission?”

“Scouting… right.” Catra looked away before regaining eye contact. “It went well.”

“Did you find anything interesting in the Whispering Woods?”

“Only a small civilian town that didn’t put up much of a fight.”

Scorpia noticeably tensed as her brows furrowed. “Didn’t put up much of a fight? What do you mean by that? I thought you were only going on a scouting trip to find a source for resources.”

Catra looked away again. “Well …”

During Catra and Scorpia’s exchange Entrapta had made her way over to the computers to pull up Catra’s mission report.

Entrapta scanned the screens quickly before stating a brief summary of the information that she had gathered. “Says here that the civilian town was leveled and there was nothing to salvage, so no resources were brought back to the Horde.”

“WHAT!?” Scorpia shouted in disbelief.

Catra crossed her arms across her chest. “Yeah… about that…”

“Catra, you can’t just go around leveling civilian towns for the fun of it!” She exclaimed. “Not only did you go against direct orders from Shadow Weaver, you returned with nothing to show for your impromptu attack!”

Catra rolled her eyes. “Scorpia, calm down. I’ll just say that it was a recon mission. I thought that the town would have been a threat, so I decided to attack to see if there was any retaliation. It’s not like Shadow Weaver will find out the truth, right?”

“The probability of Shadow Weaver not finding out is very slim, surly you know that Catra.” Entrapta was not reluctant to state obvious facts.

While the group was discussing Catra’s coverup story they were unaware of a shadow looming high in the rafters of the lab. Shadow Weaver had been spying on them and was now furious that someone, especially Catra, would even think of lying to her.

A guard appeared in the doorway.

“Force Captain Catra, Shadow Weaver demands your presence immediately.” The guard spoke in a monotone, yet firm voice.

Catra forcefully swallowed as she made her way out Entrapta’s lab and to Shadow Weaver’s inner sanctum, she knew this wasn’t going to be good.

* * *

Adora didn’t know how she stumbled upon Madame Razz’s cottage, but it always did seem to appear out of nowhere in a time of need. She knocked on the door twice, before the door abruptly swung open,

Madame Razz looked her up and down with a smile before speaking. “Mara dearie, it’s so nice to see you again. Here for another berry picking adventure?”

Adora rubbed her left arm awkwardly. “Hi… uh no… but I thought that you might have some way of helping me out with a problem that I currently have.”

“Ahhhh oh course, please come in take a seat anywhere you like.” Razz spoke as she gestured to the inside of her dwelling, which Adora quickly stepped into.

The inside of the cottage was smaller than expected, Adora had to crouch so she didn’t hit her head on the roof. There was bottles and vials lining the walls, all labeled with mysterious writing that even Adora couldn’t read. As she looked around, she noted a small kitchen and dining area as well as a living room where she attempted to sit on a chair albeit very uncomfortably.

“Now tell me dearie, what is your question?” She addressed Adora with an inquisitive look.

Adora pondered for a moment, trying to think about how exactly she wanted to formulate her question.

“Well see…” Adora hesitated. “…there’s this girl… and I want to know more about her?”

“Oh, I see, girl trouble then? We’ve all been there, but I don’t think I would be the best to help you with that problem. I am not that great at relationship advice.”

Adora blushed, she did not mean for her question to come out that way. “Nonononono, what I mean is that there is a person whose motivations I need to better understand, so that I can predict her next move.”

Razz sighed. “So this is about the war then?”

“…Yes?”

“You know dearie, I was never one to get involved in the war, but I see your conflict and I think I have something that may be able to help you.”

“GREAT! Thank you so much Madame Razz!”

“Don’t thank me yet dear.” She said with a somewhat mischievous look on her face.

Adora gave her a questioning look before Madame Razz began searching through the vials and bottles lining the walls of her cottage. When she found the one she was looking for, she shuffled back to Adora and held out a bottle in her hand.

“Drink this whole bottle before you go to sleep tonight and think about the person you want to better understand. When you wake up in the morning you will finally see that other individual’s perspective and hopefully their motivations too.”

“How is a bottle of liquid supposed to help me understand someone else?”

“Trust me, you’ll understand in the morning.”

Adora looked at the bottle in Madame Razz’s hand before taking it and sticking it in her jacket. She left the cottage after a quick thank you and goodbye and starting walking back towards Bright Moon. When she reached her bedroom, she saw a plate of food waiting on her dresser just as Bow and Glimmer had promised. She quickly ate, before changing in her pjs and pulled the bottle that Madam Razz had gave her out of the pocket of her discarded jacket. She settled into bed and thought _here goes nothing_, as she downed the whole bottle. Adora suddenly felt drowsy and let the lull of sleep pull her into darkness.

* * *

Catra was pulled into Shadow Weaver sanctum by a tight tug on her wrist. It was even colder in here than the rest of the Horde and that wasn’t the only thing that sent chills down her spine.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shadow Weaver asked in a harsh tone.

Catra stood still in the chamber. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t be flippant with me child! I overheard your discussion with Force Captain Scorpia and Entrapta about how your scouting mission went.” Her tone of voice becoming angrier by the second.

“…oh that.” Catra felt her jaw tense as she gritted her teeth.

“Not only did you waste time, energy, and resources attacking a useless town in the middle of nowhere, you attempt to formulate a plan with others in order to lie to me. You always were a bad influence on the people around you and your actions today are inexcusable!”

“But, I…”

“Silence!”

Catra was rapidly engulfed in the shadows of dark magic.

…

“We will _speak_ again tomorrow.”

…

Out of breath and bruised, Catra made her way to her bed and quickly fell asleep, trying not to think about what kind of punishment Shadow Weaver had in store for her in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Adora wakes up in the Horde.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	2. Adora in the Horde

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two! Hope you guys like it!

Adora awoke dazed and startled to the all familiar morning alarm in the Horde barracks. As she sat up, she noticed how sore her body felt. Her wrist hurt and there was a sharp pain in her ribs, almost as if someone had tied something around her waist and tightly squeezed.

_Wait. The Horde barracks? WHY AM I IN THE HORDE BARRACKS?_

_Am I dreaming again?_

Then she heard one of her former squad mates speak.

“Hurry up Catra, you’re gonna be late for training!” Lonnie shouted from down the hall.

_Catra._

_But where was she?_

Still sat in bed, Adora quickly glanced around the dimly lit room and saw that she was sitting on her old bed that she used to share with Catra. She knew this because she quickly identified their old childhood drawings on the right side of the bunk frame. The sight of this drawing brought a warm comforting feeling, which was quickly replaced by a sense of dismay as she saw four identical slash marks through Adora’s side of the portrait.

_Wow, she really must have been really upset when I left._

Now, quilt washed over her.

That’s when it hit her. If she was in her old bed that she shared with ex-best friend … and if she wasn’t dreaming, then why hasn’t she spotted her yet? Lonnie had called out for Catra, which meant that she had to still be in this room somewhere. That’s when she looked down.

She was wearing red torn leggings that wrapped around the arches of her feet and a fitted tank top that ended in a point just past her navel. When she reached for her head, her fingers found a headpiece that held in place a wild mane of hair.

_Oh. My. Gods. I. Am. Catra._

_I am Catra._

_WHY AM I CATRA?_

As Adora came to this realization, she tried to let her emotions as she didn’t want to alert anyone around her that something might be wrong. Her tail on the other hand had a mind of its own apparently. Currently it was anxiously swishing back and forth behind her on the bed. Adora tried to control it to no avail.

_Ugh, HOW DOES SHE CONTROL THIS THING!_

As Adora stood up, she realized how odd it was having to wake up fully dressed instead of her comfortable pjs that she was now accustomed to. The Horde always said be ready for anything. Which is why they wore their normal clothes to bed, because they had to be ready for action at a moment’s notice.

When she was fully upright, Adora did notice that something was missing from Catra’s usual attire. She looked around quickly and found her belts and force captain badge off to the side of the bed. Adora never really understood the point of Catra’s belts. Adora’s held her jacket in place, but Catra’s seemed to be decorative for the most part. As she wrapped them around her waist, one of the belts rubbed against her sides and that pain that was temporarily replaced by confusion was suddenly back.

_Gods Catra. What have you been up to?_

She rubbed at her sides hoping to alleviate some of the tenderness, but it didn’t work. Then she picked up the force captain badge and looked down at it as she held it in her hand.

_This could have been me._

She affixed the badge to her shirt and headed towards the training room after realizing that everyone had already left.

It was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

As Adora neared the training room, she felt like eyes were on her the entire journey there. Maybe it was just her paranoia surrounding the situation that she had just found herself in, or perhaps people did often look at Catra. That’s what she did when she was still at the Horde. Adora was always focused on Catra, never really paying attention to whether or not other people were looking at her too.

She arrived at the training room but hesitated before opening the door.

_Okay, I just have to make it through this day first and then I can sneak out to find Bow and Glimmer. Just pretend to be Catra and everything will be fine._

_Fine. Fine. Everything was going to be fine._

When the door opened Adora spotted Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio already sparring with other cadets in the room. Now that Catra was a force caption, Adora knew that she no longer needed to participate in these practices, she was simply required to observe to see how her team was progressing.

She made her way over to the wall where some other the other force captains and guards were watching the cadets from. As Adora approached the group gave her a questioning look and Adora clenched her hands into fists.

_Ow! Oh claws, forgot about those._

She relaxed her hands.

Finally, near the group of people, one of the other force captains spoke up.

“Sticking to the floor today? Huh, Catra?” A tall and stocky force captain asked as he eyed her. “You’re usually up somewhere high, not even paying attention to what your team is doing.”

_Right, jumping and being stealthy was something Catra did a lot of._

“Haha, very funny.” Adora tried to play off the comment, but it sounded more nervous than anything. “I just thought that I should observe down here today for a new perspective.”

_Aced that sarcastic tone._ She thought to herself… even though she didn’t.

“More so it sounds like that that talk with Shadow Weaver finally knocked some sense into you.” He said through a smile on his face which confused Adora to no end.

_Shadow Weaver?_

The whole group then laughed and returned to their conversations that they were previously having, blatantly leaving Adora out of them.

_Was this how Catra was treated when I left?_

Adora turned her attention back to the sparring ring and noticed that Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio had all been defeated in the first round of training. This was surprising since before Adora left the Horde, their team was one of the best. Maybe without her they were suffering too. Adora felt guilty again and was now determined to watch the second round of matches to see where then went wrong.

Round two went just as bad as the first. Her team was quickly overpowered by the other cadets, but Adora spotted a few things that could help improve their techniques even if there was no chance in them winning now. Before the beginning of round three, Adora called Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio over so she could talk to them.

“Catra? Why are you calling us over here?” Lonnie asked in a genuinely surprised tone.

Kyle approached the duo. “Yeah, you’re usually not even here most of the times.”

Rogelio grunted in agreement.

“Well, I figured I could give you guys some pointers to help improve your technique for round three.” Adora stated with a quirked brow.

The three cadets all gave each other questioning and confused glances before Lonnie spoke up again.

“Help us?” Lonnie said through a chuckle. “Why would you do that? You only look out for yourself, seems really out of character for you.”

_Am I really being that obvious?_

_Think, Adora. Think._

“Do you realize how embarrassing it is to have the worst team here today?” Adora raised her voice slightly emphasizing her faux irritated tone. “Of course, I want to help you win round three, so we at least don’t come in last place!”

“That didn’t seem to matter to you last time.” Kyle said shyly.

Adora was actually getting irritated now. “Well, it does to me today. So, can I just help you guys already?!”

“Seems like Shadow Weaver finally got to you, but whatever you say _Catra_.” Lonnie said through a smug smirk.

_Why does everyone keep bringing up Shadow Weaver?_

Adora pushed that thought to the back of her head, not waiting to dive right into the critiques that she wanted to make to the group. “Alright…first off Lonnie your form is all wrong.”

“WHAT?!” She shouted.

Adora walks around to where Lonnie is standing and asks her to take up a fighting stance before she begins her critique. “Your feet are too close together, and your body is hunched over. When you prepare for an attack you need to keep your stance wide and your body lowered, this gives you more of an impact when you strike.”

Adora demonstrated an attack pose and Lonnie mimics her. “Like this?” She asks.

“Perfect!” She gives her a thumbs up.

Lonnie smiles and she looks energized and ready to get back onto the training floor.

“Kyle!” Adora calls out for him.

“Yes ma’am!” Kyle, who looks like he’s half asleep, salutes her as Adora approaches him next.

“Your stance could use a little work too, but I am more concerned about your dedication when attacking. When you go in for a strike you hesitate before delivering your blow. This moment of weakness gives your opponent time to counter your move and easily defeat you.”

“And how do I fix that?” He asked unsurely.

“You just have to think of something so important to you that you wouldn’t even think about hesitating to attack, because you would protect that thing at all costs.” Adora smiled at him.

Kyle glances at Rogelio and a subtle blush spreads across his cheeks.

“Rogelio?”

“Hm?” He hummed.

“You keep doing you buddy.” Adora said with a slight laugh. Rogelio had always been an absolute unit of a cadet, so she really didn’t have anything to correct him on.

Rogelio gave Adora a thumbs up and the three of them headed back onto the training floor more ready than ever for round three. It was really a sight to behold. With her new and improved stance, Lonnie was able to knock out her opponent in one swing and Kyle and Rogelio worked together as a team to take out the other two cadets that they were sparring against. It was their quickest time on record that they completed a round. The three cadets made their way back to Adora, looking prouder of themselves than they have been in a while.

“Great job guys!” Adora cheered as they approached her.

“Thanks, Catra!” Kyle said through a coy smile. “You really helped us out there!”

“Yeah, I think I’m starting to like this new you.” Lonnie said as she prop a hand on her hip.

With that said, the cadets headed back to the locker rooms, while Adora found herself alone once more. What she didn’t notice, however, was a dark figure that had entered the room right after training had ended. She was so caught up in the joy of her fellow teammates that she wasn’t aware of her presence until her name was called.

“Catra!” Shadow Weaver called for her.

The way she called out her ex-best friend’s name sent shivers now her spine and she felt her fur stand on end. However, she turned to face the voice without hesitation.

“Come with me child, we have matters to discuss.”

Adora followed Shadow Weaver out of the training room and down the hall, unsure of what to expect next.

* * *

Adora enter the Black Garnet chamber and heard the door slam behind her.

“What game are you playing at?” Shadow Weaver asked sternly.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Adora was genuinely confused.

Suddenly Shadow Weaver lunged at Adora and took hold of her face in her right hand. Adora felt herself take a small gasp and her tail slowly began to wind itself around her leg.

“Don’t play dumb with me! Just yesterday you were as careless and carefree as ever, and today you’re helping other cadets? Tel me _Catra_, what changed?” The grip around her face tightened and her jaw began to hurt.

“…” Adora froze in place, she had no idea what to say or to do… Shadow Weaver never treated her this way…

“Answer me!” The vile woman exclaimed. “Or do I have to remind you of our _talk_ that we had yesterday?”

Adora felt the pain around her ribs intensify and noticed that Shadow Weaver had moved her left hand to her waist, which was now surrounded by black energy.

_Shadow Weaver had done this to her?_

“I…” She finally found herself able to speak again. “Just really took to heart what we talked about yesterday and I felt like I needed to prove myself today.”

Adora hoped that was a good enough answer for her.

Shadow Weaver squinted and scrutinized Adora’s, technically Catra’s, face for a long moment.

“You know, you reminded me of her today.” Shadow Weaver’s expression softened.

Her brows furrowed. “Of who?”

“_Adora_.” Shadow Weaver said her name in a lighter tone than she had said anything else during this whole ‘conversation’.

Adora felt the color drain from her face.

_Did Shadow Weaver figure it out?_

She felt the grip on her face lessen and the touch turned gentler, one could even say that it felt tender for a brief moment.

“Keep this up and hopefully we won’t have to have so many _talks_ in the future. I’m glad that you’re finally taking me seriously for once. You’re are free to go for today…”

The hold from around her body loosened and the hand on her face was now gone. As Adora left the black garnet chamber, she let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she was holding in. Shadow Weaver had never treated Adora like that when she was at the Horde, and she knew that Catra got in trouble a lot, but was this what really happened behind closed doors?

_I’ll have to talk to Catra about this later._

For the third time today Adora felt immensely guilty.

* * *

In was now late in the afternoon and Adora knew that she would have to make her move soon in order to sneak out undetected. But first she wanted to stop by Entrapta’s lab before she left. Maybe she would have some answers for her about how she was supposed to get her old body back. She was the smartest person she knew besides Bow.

The only problem of getting to Entrapta, was that she didn’t know where the lab was located. Adora looked around a spotted a guard walking towards her.

Adora looked around the hallway and spotted a figure. “Hey you, guard.”

The figure turned towards her. “Yes force captain?”

“Which way to Entrapta’s lab?” She asked.

The guard gave Adora a puzzled look before speaking up gain.

“…It’s at the end of the hall on the left…Why are you asking me this? You go there at least once a day…”

“Pppsssttt…” Adora waved a hand in front of her. Trying to act as nonchalant as possible. “Well, obviously… I was just making sure you knew which way it was.”

With that Adora quickly walked away from that conversation and headed down the hall. She approached the last door at the end of the hallway. From inside she heard a variety of clanking sounds, laughing, and something that sounded like another person conversating with her.

_Yep, this definitely has to be her lab._

Adora opened the door and walked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Catra's POV.
> 
> Also, did any Steven Universe fans spot the easter egg that I put in this chapter?
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	3. Catra in Bright Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter get a little saucy? I guess? I don't think it's enough to raise the rating, but let me know what you think in the comments!

Catra stirred in her sleep, not quite ready to face the impending doom of the day. She already knew that she would have to deal with Shadow Weaver again this morning and expected her body to ache as she stretched, but surprisingly she only felt stiffness in her joints and no pain. Eyes still closed; she took a deep breath in as she raised her hands above her head and attempted to breath in the burning scent of the Horde, but was instead met with the sweet smell of lavender? She also realized that there was a lack of noise coming from machinery and she was lying in a very comfortable bed.

_Okay, what is going on here?_

Catra slowly cracked open an eye and confirmed her suspicions. As her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, the sun hadn’t risen yet, she noted that she was in a large space that only had a few pieces of furniture, in addition to the bed she was currently still lying down on, and was that a waterfall? Slowly, Catra began to sit up to get a better look at her surroundings. Her eyes had adjusted enough to see all of the pastel colors that surrounded her.

_Odd_. She thought as she rubbed the last bits of sleep out of her eyes.

The pieces started to come together, the only place she knows that has this type of color scheme is Bright Moon, and the only person that she knows in Bright Moon that smells like lavender is…

_Wait. Am … am I in Adora’s room?_

She looked around again.

_Holy shit, I’m in Adora’s room!_

As soon as she had realized this, panic had set in. Why on Etheria would she be in Adora’s bedroom? As she leapt out of bed, she realized how heavy she felt, and was surprised by the coldness that hit her skin as left the warmth of the bed.

_Why am I cold? I don’t even usually need to use a blanket in the Horde_.

And that’s when she looked down at her body.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

* * *

Stunned, Catra stumbled back to sit on the edge of the bed. She stretched her arms out in front of her, and she would recognize those hands anywhere, she’s held onto their softness many times. She looked down at her legs and noted their pale color and bare feet hitting the cold tile floor.

_I’m in Adora’s body … gods why the fuck am I in Adora’s body!_

Before she could examine herself any further, a sudden burst of pink light filled her vision and then there was another girl in the room with her, concern written in her voice.

“Adora! Are you okay? I heard screaming.” Glimmer sounded panicked.

Catra froze, the only time she’s encountered this girl was in a place of conflict, but now she looked genuinely scared for her.

“Hey … Glimmer?” Catra said hesitantly. “Yeah, I’m fine … just had a bad dream is all.”

“Again? We really have to get these nightmares under control. I knew you’re not getting a decent amount of sleep, if you keep waking up in the early hours of the morning.” Glimmer sounded worried.

_Adora has been having nightmares_? Catra thinks as she shakes those thoughts of concern out of her head she tries to think of an answer to respond to Glimmer. _How would Adora respond_?

“Just dreaming about the horrors of the Horde and stuff, you know the usual.” Catra said with a shrug of her shoulders.

_What a stupid answer. _She thought as she mentally face palmed herself.

Glimmer’s posture relaxed. “Okay…well if you need to talk, you know where to find me. Just try to get some more rest we do have a couple more hours before we have to wake up. You know we have a busy day planned later.”

_I can’t believe she bought that_. She couldn’t believe how gullible princesses could be. Catra also was not looking forward to the fact that they had also planned some sort of excursion for later on in the day.

_How can I keep up this act for a whole day, If I could barely do it for a short conversation?_

“I’ll try.” Catra said softly.

With a smile Glimmer left the room in a puff of pink sparkles.

“Uggghhhhhhh.” Catra let out a long sigh as she attempted to stand once more and towards the mirror over the dressing table. There was no way that she would be able to fall back asleep in the body of her ex-best friend. She would just try to figure out how to fix this before they left for their trip.

_Gods how does Adora put up with all this muscle weight? It feels like I’m carrying around a training vest at all times_.

Slowly she slid into view of the mirror.

_Yep … that’s Adora alright … I am in Adora’s body … this is so incredibly weird._

She sat down on a stool in front of the dressing table and slowly leaned in closer. Her hair was pulled into Adora’s signature ponytail, albeit a little messy from sleeping and she was still in her pjs it looked like. She then lifted a hand to the right side of her face and slowly dragged her fingertips across her jawline before she ghosted her lips. The sensation sent chills running through her body. She looked down to her arms and saw goose bumps there instead of her usual stripes. She ran her right hand over her left arm. It was a strange sensation not having a velvet layer of fur lining her whole body. It made every touch and brush feel intense and Catra wondered if Adora felt this whenever she grabbed her wrist or brushed up against her in the Horde.

Before she knew it, the sun was beginning to rise, Catra had spent so much time looking in the mirror and examining all her new features that she didn’t even realize what time it was. She knew that Glimmer and that boy, Bow? Would probably be barging into her room any second now.

As if on cue, the door swung open without a knock and Bow was standing in the doorway with a plate of food. Glimmer was a few steps behind him.

“Good Morning beautiful!” Bow shouted carrying a plate with him.

Glimmer followed behind him. “We brought you food since you weren’t at breakfast this morning, we figured you’d be hungry and probably just slept in. Especially after what happen last night. I told Bow by the way.”

“Yeah Adora, you should really get those nightmares under control, maybe we could visit Perfuma sometime for a calming remedy?” Bow asked with a worried tone.

“…” Catra had kind of zoned out this whole time.

“Adora? Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Glimmer asked as she came closer to her. “You haven’t said a thing since we came in.”

“What?” Catra asked as she tuned back in.

“You’ve just been sitting on that stool and staring at us.” Bow said as he pointed to her body. “Look at you! You’re not even dressed!”

Catra didn’t expect this kind of bombardment of questions and statements this early in the morning, and to be honest she was kind of getting annoyed with these two already, but she tried her best to keep cool.

“I already told you I’m fine.” She said as calmly as she could. “What did you bring me?”

“Your favorite of course!” Glimmer cheered.

Bow walked over and set the plate down on the dressing table and Catra observed it. Some purple looking fruit with a doughy blue looking roll with some sort of filling.

“Thanks?” Catra said in a weary tone. She wasn’t used to eating anything else other than ration bars.

“You’re welcome!” Bow said through a huge smile. “Now eat up and join us in the great hall after and we head back to the town.”

“And take a shower! You kind of stink to be honest!” Glimmer said.

* * *

The two made their way out of the room and Catra lifted her arm and sniffed, she did stink and she guessed that Adora hadn’t take a shower before going to bed last night, something she was known to do in the Horde and probably one of the only bad habits she had. Then her stomach rumbled.

_I guess I am actually hungry._

She looked at the plate again, as unappealing as it looked, Adora must have liked it for a reason. She picked up the doughy blue thing and bite down into it. An array of flavor exploded in her mouth.

_This is literally the best thing I’ve ever had, totally better than ration bars_.

After five minutes of straight up inhaling the food on her plate Catra leaned her back against the side of the dressing table and rubbed her stomach as a sign of contentment.

_Okay, weird, I probably shouldn’t be rubbing my ex-best friend’s stomach, which is now my stomach? Ugh this is so confusing! Adora why did you do this?_

Catra then realized the problem of how she was supposed to take a shower. On one hand, she couldn’t just not do it because Glimmer and Bow would definitely notice that she stilled smelled. But on the other hand, she couldn’t just strip bare and wash a body that wasn’t hers. Talk about awkward. She argued internally with herself for a couple of minutes before regretfully dragging her feet towards the bathroom.

When she entered it was surprisingly similar to the Horde, except there weren’t many shower stalls, just one and the products it contained were fairly simple.

_I guess some things don’t change. Okay Catra you can do this. You can totally do this. All you have to do is take a shower. No problem at all. Just keep your head high and whatever you do don’t look down. Easy, totally fool proof._

Catra stepped fully into the bathroom and brought her hands to the hem of her shirt ready to pull it over her hand.

_One…two…three…three and a half. Just do it Catra!_

She slipped the shirt over her head and discarded it on the bathroom floor. As she did so, she caught a glance of her back in the mirror. Eight slashes, four on either side of high spine ran from her shoulder blades down to lower back.

_Scars? _

She then realizes.

_Scars from me…_

The thought makes her shudder as she tries to refocus on her task, but she definitely will try to bring this up stealthy with Glimmer and Bow later today. She has to know how much pain she caused Adora, because even though she says she didn’t care about her, everyone saw through that lie even herself.

She then turns on the water for the shower, so it can heat up while she takes on the struggle of removing the shorts and underwear from her body. In one swift motion she pulls them both off and tosses them to where the discarded shirt lies.

_Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Don’t look down._

Catra keeps her gaze firmly ahead, glued to the wall as she reaches out a hand to test the water temperature of the shower. Perfect. She then turns her attention to Adora’s hair tie as she removes it.

_I should probably wash my hair too, that’s something Adora would do, right?_

She ran her fingers through Adora’s hair a few times reminiscing how they would do this to each other in the Horde before they were separated. She had to admit it did feel good, no wonder why Adora liked it so much. She stepped into the shower and began the process of washing her body and hair. It wasn’t as bad as Catra had expected it to be, it definitely felt different than having to wash the fur that she was used to.

Once clean, she stepped out of the shower and grab a towel and wrapped it around her body. She could finally move her gaze freely again. She walked into the bedroom again and began pulling out Adora’s usual clothing to get dressed in. As she began drying off, the towel slipped out of her hands landing on the floor around her legs.

She looked down.

_Shit._

With flushed cheeks she got dressed as quickly as she could and made her way towards the great hall, wherever that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Adora makes a fool of herself in Entrapta's lab.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	4. Entrapta's Lab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not sure how many chapters this is going to end up being, but I would say that this is probably close to the halfway point.

As Adora entered the lab, she quickly scanned the area and took in her surroundings. There were boxes everywhere. Some towering so tall that they almost touched the ceiling, while others were strewn half open, with their contents barely contained. Adora also noted the various tools that were scattered across the floor and the many wires running in every direction on the ground. No wonder why Catra loved coming here, it must have been like her own personal playground. Despite this, Entrapta’s Horde lab was definitely messier than the one back at Dryl and with all the stuff that Adora did see, she didn’t seem to find the person who she was looking for the most.

_Where is Entrapta?_

A laugh rang out seemingly from no particular direction, but Adora assumed that it had to be coming from behind one of the towering stacks of boxes. She quickly looked around, before the sound of drilling and clanking began to fill the air. Then, there was an abrupt flash of light and a very loud bang before a voice echoed through the room.

“Edit to experiment log 586, no… 587?” Entrapta thought out loud. “It appears that the robotic motor has backfired, which resulted in overall system failure. I will try readjusting the airflow intake in the next test.”

“You have to be more careful next time Entrapta, you could have really gotten hurt this time.”

Adora didn’t recognize the second voice who was also apparently in the lab with Entrapta too, but it didn’t sound threatening, which was reassuring to her.

“Nonsense Scorpia! That’s half the fun of experimentation!” Entrapta shouted joyfully.

_Ahhh, Scorpia that was her name._

As Adora stepped further into the room, she heard the lab door harshly close behind her. The sound must have alerted the lab’s inhabitants as the talking abruptly stopped. She saw a figure then peak around a stack of boxes that was to the left of Adora. This person obviously recognized her, as a large smile spread across her face and she came hurdling towards Adora. Next thing she knew, she was scooped up and cradled into two large claws.

_Did Catra really let other people touch her like this?_

“Wildcat you’re back!” Scorpia said as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

_Wildcat?_

Adora was thrown off a little by the ‘friendliness.’ “Uh… yeah… I just wanted to stop by for my daily check-in…”

_Because that’s apparently something Catra does now._

The two claws that were embracing her gently let her down and Adora found her footing again. She was now able to get a better look at this so called Scorpia, and she was quite surprised by what she saw. Despite her sheer size, the way that Adora had been held was gentle and tender. If this woman intended to hurt her, she would not have any problem doing so at all. Where Adora stood now, Scorpia had at least a foot on her if not a foot and a few inches. She was surprised that Catra would be okay with someone like Scorpia treating her like this.

_Was there something going on between these two? _

_Why was this woman so ready to be affectionate with her…with Catra? _

_Is this normal for them? Did Catra reciprocate this affection? _

_Why am I feeling this way? _

_Am I jeal…_

Her thoughts were interrupted when that familiar voice called out again.

“Catra’s here? GREAT! I have some very important questions to ask her!” Entrapta came into view as she peered from the same spot that Scorpia had come from moments ago. She was wearing her signature overalls, which hung loosely around her waist and her welding mask was still down covering her face. She looked in good health, which eased some of Adora’s worries.

“Hey Entrapta, what’s up?” Adora greeted her.

She lifted her welding mask from her face and Adora saw that troubling, but comforting twinkle in her eyes and a smile that seemed to shine too bright for being in the Horde.

_Maybe she was happy here._

“Something fascinating happened last night!” She held her arms out wide. “I detected a strong energy signal that I think was caused by magic! I wanted to send out my field bots to investigate, but by the time I got here the signal was gone.”

_Ah Oh._

_Of course, Entrapta had a device that picked up on magic now!_

“Did you still manage to find out exactly where the signal came from?” Adora asked nervously.

“Yes!” Entrapta said excitedly. “I pinpointed its location from somewhere inside the barracks. I was wondering if you had seen anything strange in your quarters last night, or if any of the cadets noticed something.”

She internally panicked. “Uhhhhhhh…nope, nothing at all. Didn’t notice _anything_ unusual.”

Adora laughed nervously while Entrapta studied her face and noticed that Scorpia was eyeing her too. Adora’s forehead began to glisten with sweat and her hands became clammy. To add to her nervous body language, her tail, which seemed to have a mind of its own, started to swish anxiously back and forth and her ears were pinned against her head, she had forgotten about those too.

“Are you sure Catra?” Scorpia asked as she leaned into her space and narrowed her eyes. “You do seem to be acting a little differently today. You usually don’t like my hugs at all, and today you took it like a champ. Are you getting sick or something? *gasp* Is that it? You’re not feeling well!? DO YOU NEED TO BE NURSED TENDERLY BACK TO HEALTH!?”

Adora raised her hands in font of her to prevent Scorpia from capturing her in another hug. “GODS NO! I really don’t know what you’re talking about, I feel fine.”

“Well if that’s the case, do you mind if I run some tests on you?” Entrapta asked as she pulled out a tablet to take notes on. “Maybe the magic rubbed off on you and you are just unaware of its side effects?”

Adora was full on panicking inside now. She could feel her heart racing and her pulse was pounding in her head. How would Catra answer this proposal? Surely, she wouldn’t want test to be run on her body, but Adora didn’t think she would have been friends with people like Entrapta and Scorpia at all. Maybe she didn’t know as much about her ex-best friend as she thought she did.

_Might as well play along, right?_

“I guess, but nothing drastic. Got that?” Adora emphasized that last part with a point of her finger.

Entrapta squealed with excitement and Scorpia just stood beside her swinging her head from left to right in disapproval.

“Fantastic!” Entrapta said as she grinned ear to ear. “I just need to gather a few supplies while we start, but I need you to get something for me in one of the boxes from up there. Can you do that for me?” She pointed up in the general direction that this something was supposed to be in.

“Uh, sure. What exactly does it look like?” Adora asked.

“It’s a multitool. Red, about yay big and fits in the palm of your hand comfortably, I’m sure you know the one I’m talking about, right? You’ve seen it before…” Entrapta trailed on in her explanation and Adora just nodded in agreement.

“Perfect! Thanks again! Scorpia please come with me, I need you to lift something for me over here.” Entrapta and Scorpia headed back over to the left, where they had previously come from, and Adora was now alone.

* * *

As the duo left, Adora turned towards the tower of boxes that Entrapta had been pointing to moments ago.

_How on Etheria am I supposed to get up there?_

She looked down at her legs and seemingly realized once again that she was in Catra’s body. Catra was an expert at getting to high places, this would be no issue at all. How hard would it be to use Catra’s body?

_If Catra can do it, so can I. No Problem._

Adora sized up the stack of boxes and readied herself for the jump. She squat down, digging in the claws of her feet in the ground a little to try and get a firmer hold and placed both hands on the ground in front of her. She eyed the tower of boxes again, swayed her hips and sprang forward.

_Yes! Oh, No!_

At least that’s what she attempted to do. Instead, Adora fell flat on her face. It was like one of those cat jump fail videos Bow had showed her on his tablet a month ago. As she got back off the floor, she rubbed her nose, making sure that it wasn’t broken, because it sure felt like it. Catra definitely would wonder what happened when she got her body back.

Brushing off nonexistent dust from her leggings, she readied herself again, this time her posture was more relaxed, and her claws didn’t dig into the floor. With another swing of her hips, Adora bolted upwards and she felt herself disconnect from the floor. She felt the air swoosh through her hair, and it felt soothing. A brief moment of calm in the chaos of the Horde that surrounded her.

_Is this why Catra loves jumping so much?_

Lost in the moment, Adora completely forgot about the landing.

Slamming into the tower of boxes, Adora tried to anchor herself on something, anything, as the stack came crashing down. She lands sideways harshly on the floor, adding more injury to her already bruised ribs. Box after box come tumbling down around her. Dizzy, the next thing she remembers seeing is a box falling straight towards her head and a red figure sprinting straight for her. She squints her eyes and anticipates the impact, but all she feels is a grip around her shoulders and hips before the world turns black as she passes out from the pain.

* * *

Adora’s breathing is shallow as she slowly peeks and eye open to find herself still in Entrapta’s lab on a very cold metal slab. The pain in her side has increased tenfold, which is why she was having trouble taking deep breaths now. She then remembers the fall and the impact.

_Gods, Catra is **really** going to hate me now. First the nose, now this!?_

“Entrapta! She’s awake!” Scorpia shouts.

She was standing next to Adora, with a reassuring claw gripping her right hand. Adora pulled her hand away, sure that Catra wouldn’t let that happen for that long. The neutral look on Scorpia’s face proved Adora’s hypothesis correct.

“Good!”

There was the sound of footsteps on her left, before Entrapta finally came into view.

“You took a pretty good fall there…you’re usually an expert at getting to high places. Are you sure you didn’t notice or experience anything strange last night?” Entrapta asked in a skeptically tone, obviously suspicious of something.

Adora only gave a pained shrug and averted her gaze.

“Just please tell us what’s going on.” Scorpia pleaded.

There was such concern in Scorpia’s voice that Adora couldn’t keep up the charade any longer. She was genuinely concerned for Catra, and if she wanted to help her, then maybe Adora could trust her too.

“Fine, but you have to promise that you can’t tell anyone else, okay?” Adora finally relented.

This seemed to pique their interest as Scorpia and Entrapta readily leaned in closer to Adora who was still lying down on that metal slab.

“I’m…” Adora hesitated. “I’m not actually Catra.”

“What? Did you hit your head when you fell?” Scorpia asked in a confused tone.

“No, no, no. You see, I may be Catra physically, but… I’m not really her…” Adora try to clarify, but this situation was still all very confusing.

“WHAT!?!?!?” Scorpia shouted.

“Faaaaaaaaaaaaaascinating.” Entrapta said in a squeaky tone. “If you’re not Catra then who are you?”

“I’m… Adora.”

“WHAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?” Scorpia continued to be surprised by these seemingly shocking revelations.

Scorpia was understandably freaking out right now and Entrapta was just staring at her in awe, waiting for her to continue, but there was a sudden firm grip around her shoulders once more and Scorpia inched closer to Adora’s face.

Adora let out a sharp pained hiss.

_Ow_.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!” Scorpia asked through gritted teeth.

Adora raised her hands in front of her as a sign of defense. “Look it wasn’t on purpose. Yesterday, me Glimmer and Bow responded to that civilian town that had been attacked by the Horde, by Catra. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there in time and Catra made sure we know it was her that did it. It was the last straw for me. I just wanted to know what her motivations were, so I visited a mentor of mine and she gave me something to drink when I went to bed. She said that it would help me understand Catra’s motivations when I woke up in the morning.”

“A mentor?” Scorpia scoffed. “It sounds like you just took some random potion from a witch, with an intention of HARMING CATRA!”

“LOOK I DIDN’T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN OKAY!” Adora shouted back at her.

“ppssstt, like I’m supposed to believe that.” Scorpia said in a mocking tone.

Entrapta’s voice cut through the bickering and caught the attention of Adora and Scorpia. “Catra’s body log number 1: It appears that Adora has used some kind of magic potion to swap her and Catra’s consciousness into each other’s bodies. What an interesting predicament indeed!”

“Uhhhh…I don’t think Catra would want you keeping a ‘Catra body log’ on your recorder.” Scorpia cringed.

“What do you propose that I call it then?” Entrapta asked inquisitively.

Scorpia just shrugged. “I’m not sure, it just seems a little odd.”

“THIS WHOLE SITUATION IS ODD!” Adora proclaimed.

They both turned towards Catra, well Adora, and gave her a questioning look.

“Why are you still here then? Scorpia was very cold towards her now, a far cry from the warm and caring tone that was in her voice just moments ago.

“I came here, because I thought that Entrapta would have some sort of idea of how we could swap bodies back, but you’re here now too and it seems that you really care about Catra. So, could you two please help me out? At least do it for Catra…” Adora argued.

A slight blush spread across Scorpia’s cheeks.

It did not go unnoticed by Adora.

“How do you even know where Catra could possibly be now? How are we supposed to find her?” Scorpia asked.

Adora thought for a moment before answering. “Well I know where they are going, and I know how stubborn Catra is. She’s going to keep the act up as long as possible too. Gimmer, Bow and I were all going to head back to the civilian town tonight to see if anyone had returned yet. My guess is, that they are still going there and that’s where we should go to find them too.?

“Alright, well what are we waiting for?” Scorpia’s energy was up a little, but she still seemed distant.

Adora sat up on the metal table and swung her legs over the side. When she hit the ground, a sharp pain went through her ribs again. But she brushed it off, just like they had been taught to do in the Horde since they were kids. The two of them headed towards the door, when another set of footsteps followed behind them.

“This is going to be exciting!” Entrapta squealed.

“You’re coming too?” Adora asked her.

“Of course! Just imagine the social interactions between two people in one another bodies! I wouldn’t miss that for anything!” Entrapta simply stated as she gathered up some supplies to take along with them.

This thought made Adora cringe.

The trio headed off to the skiff bay and began their journey towards the ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adora would totally be the first one to crack right? Or maybe she's just not as stubborn as Catra. Also, the image of Adora (in Catra's body) doing that butt wiggle cats do before jumping, made me laugh more than it should. I probably won't be able to post the next update until Monday.
> 
> Next Chapter: Catra plays 20 questions.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	5. A Walk Through the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Sword of Protection makes its debut!

As Catra slowly exited Adora’s room, she found herself in a large hallway that stretched in both directions. Unsure of which way to go, she decided to head left. The worst thing that could happen was that she would have to turn around, right? Catra kept walking until she seemed to reach the end of the hallway, where she stood in front of two massive doors and heard conversating behind them.

_Maybe this leads to the great hall?_

Catra pushed open the door on the right, peaked her head in and immediately regretted her decision.

_What’s going on here?_

Inside, sat the Queen of Bright Moon high on her throne, most of the royal guard, some servants and what Catra assumed were other important people based on their uniforms. It appeared that they were having some kind of meeting? Whatever it was, Catra did not want to stick around to find out.

She tried to slowly back her way out of the entrance, but the door let out a loud creak. Suddenly, all eyes were on her, and Catra tensed immediately.

_Fuck._

“Adora? What a pleasant surprise!” The queen greeted her. “I did not request your presence in this gathering today, what brings you in?

_Oh Gods. Oh Shit! How would Adora respond? Think Catra! Think!_

Still barely peeking out from between the doorway, Catra tried to think on the spot. She knew that Adora was always respectful to people in charge, even if they were awful people like Shadow Weaver. So, she decided that she should try to keep this conversation very formal and end it as quickly as possible.

“Good morning your…majesty. I was… just checking in to see…who was attending this meeting…to make sure that I didn’t need to take notes…for those individuals who did not attend.” Catra smack herself mentally. To her, the answer seemed really dumb, but she hoped the queen would buy it.

“Oh, Adora, you know there is no need for you to do that.” Angella spoke softly. “The royal scribe is present at all times, and anyone who misses a meeting can refer back to these notes at any given time.”

Catra didn’t know how to respond.

The Queen gave her a soft smile before speaking again. “Always thinking about work, aren’t you? Promise me one of these days you’ll take a day off please.”

_Take a day off? Ppsssstttt. When did Adora ever do that?_

“Right… the royal scribe… guess I forgot about that. I’ll try to relax more, I promise.” Catra affirmed.

_Promise._

_Huh._

Probably another one Adora wouldn’t be able to keep even if it came out of Catra’s mind.

Catra then realized that she had just been standing there idly in the doorway for a few seconds and decided that this would be her best chance to try an escape this very awkward encounter.

“Sorry for the intrusion your majesty, but I should really be on my way, your daughter is waiting for me after all!”

She shut the door behind her as quickly as possible and headed off towards the other end of the hall as fast as Adora’s stupid legs would take her. Adora’s body was built for strength, not agility like Catra’s body.

Still walking down the hallway, she took in the many murals that seemed to line these walls. She saw many figures she didn’t recognize, but she did spot the Horde soldiers that appeared in some of the murals. Surprisingly, they weren’t portrayed as evil, just as a foe of the Rebellion. Catra just assumed that it probably be too graphic to depict the realities of war on the castle walls. These pictures were meant to tell a story, not to scare the living shit out of Bright Moon’s citizens.

She kept walking.

In reality, Bright Moon was much easier to navigate than the Horde. At least it would have been if she knew where she was going. Here, it seemed that all rooms and corridors branched out from this main hallway, unlike the Horde where you could get easily lost in the many twists and turns of its layout. Catra took a mental note of Bright Moon for future reference.

_Never know when I might have to sneak in on a stealth mission_, she thought.

Not that she had ever thought about sneaking in before.

To see Adora.

No, never.

* * *

Finally, Catra found herself in a large open area, which she assumed could only be the great hall. Her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted Glimmer and Bow, who stood facing each other, talking about something that Catra couldn’t quite hear. From what she could see, however, was Bow was gesturing wildly and Glimmer was almost doubled over in laughter. Whatever they were talking about must have been funny. Dare she say, she almost kind of felt left out?

_Stupid human ears, and why do I even care. They aren’t my friends._

As Catra approached, they both gave her questioning looks.

“Hey, I’m ready. Are we leaving soon?” She said as she came to a stop next to the duo.

“How are you ready?” Bow questioned. “You literally don’t even have any shoes on!”

_Right…Adora did where shoes_. _Good thing the Queen didn’t see that._

Glimmer eyed her too. “And your hair is still down! You never leave the castle without your hair up.”

_Whoops._

Bow looked her over again. “And the sword! You’re always carrying it around!”

In this moment, Catra was failing miserably at being Adora.

She had completely forgotten about the sword in her daze that was waking up in Adora’s body. Would it even work for her? Not being able to turn into She-Ra would give her away. But, did she even want to be She-Ra?

The thought made her shiver.

“Oh yeah… I was just testing you both to see if you’d notice…” Catra gave them a weary smile.

_What a fucking stupid answer._

“Give me one sec and I’ll be right back!” Catra turned around and made her way back to Adora’s room to put on shoes, pull back her hair and grab the sword, leaving Glimmer and Bow in the great hall.

“She’s acting really weird today right?” Bow asked as he turned to face Glimmer.

“Yeah, totally.” She nodded. “I just thought that she was just being strange after the nightmare she had, but the breakfast incident and now this … it’s definitely out of character for her.”

Bow pondered for a moment. “She has been very standoffish too. Maybe we should ask her questions on the way to the ruined city to see if we can help her out? Maybe something is bothering her?”

“Good idea, I want to get to the bottom of this. She’s our friend and if she needs help, we should be there for her.” Glimmer said confidently.

* * *

Catra entered the bedroom again and slipped on a pair of socks and Adora’s ridiculous boots, which were way too hot for this time of year and attempted to pull her hair into a high and tight ponytail with that stupid little poof that she always had. She didn’t even need that poof anymore; it was just a leftover side effect from the bangs incident a few years ago in the Horde. Which was hilarious. The two of them had found a pair of scissors in an abandoned storage closet a few years back. Catra had dared Adora to give herself bangs, which she would only agree to if Catra cut her hair too. Adora left the storage closet with lopsided bangs and Catra with a patchy undercut.

Catra smiled to herself as she reminisced the event, even when she remembered the repercussions they faced when Shadow Weaver found out.

Continuing with the ponytail, Catra’s eye was drawn to something in particular on Adora’s body. While she still had both hands in her hair, she noticed how the muscles in Adora’s arms moved with every adjustment Catra made to the ponytail. It was fascinating. She managed to put up her hair fairly nicely, surprising even herself, but she couldn’t resist raising up her right arm and curling up her bicep.

_Am I really flexing right now?_

Catra couldn’t help it. She didn’t have the muscle mass that Adora had, and to be honest if she was Adora she would be flexing at every opportunity that she had. Which who was she kidding, Adora basically did flex at every opportunity, especially when she was She-Ra. Speaking of which.

_Where’s that sword?_

Catra glanced around the room briefly before finding the sword on the right side of the bed that she had woken up in hours ago. How had she not noticed that before? She hesitantly walked over to it and grabbed the hilt. It felt physically lighter than she remembered, but mentally it almost felt like a burden. Catra inspected the sword seeing her reflection, or rather Adora’s reflection, shine back at her. Would this thing even work for her now?

_I’m really about to try this aren’t I?_

She sighed and raised the sword above her head.

She could recall these next words at any moment, she has heard them at least a dozen times.

“For the honor of Grayskull!”

…

…

…

Nothing.

Catra had expected there to be some kind of blinding light and transformation, but the failure was rather lack luster.

_Well, this isn’t good._

She strapped the sword to her back and left the bedroom with uncertainty written across her face.

* * *

Reentering the great hall, Catra tried to remain cool, and kept the thought of not being able to turn into She-Ra in the back of her mind. Glimmer noticed her first and a huge smile spread across her face and Bow happily clapped his hands together.

_Gross. How can they be so enthused this early?_

“Finally! Come on let’s go!” Glimmer cheered as Catra joined them again.

“Adventure!” Bow cheered.

Glimmer pinched the bridge of her nose. “Bow… stop.”

He frowned slightly. “What it’s cool when Sea Hawk says it!”

“You… ARE NOT SEA HAWK!” Glimmer shouted.

_Ugh, so fucking annoying! How am I supposed to put up with these two for a whole day!?_

The trio walked out the main entrance, and Catra took in the sights around her. Bright Moon really was a beautiful place when it wasn’t being attacked by the Horde…by her. The runestone illuminated the entire kingdom giving an ethereal lightness to the whole place. If there was any place that Adora should be able to relax it would be Bright Moon, but Adora being Adora, it didn’t surprise Catra that even here, she wouldn’t be able to.

They entered the Whispering Woods, still slightly damaged from freezing over during the battle, but steadily growing back. Catra, made a mental note to report this if she ever made it back to the Horde. The refortification of the Whispering Woods would definitely hamper another attack on Bright Moon.

She noticed as they were walking that Bow and Glimmer seemed to keep their pace in front of her, so she remained in the back. Weird, she sarcastically imagined that the ‘best friend squad’ would hold hands and skip everywhere they went.

The thought made her chuckle slightly to herself.

“It shouldn’t take us long to get back to the civilian town, or I guess ruins now.” Bow pulled out his tablet. “My tracker pad says probably a few hours.”

_Ahhhh, so that where we’re going…and a few hours? Geez did these guys really walk everywhere. No wonder Adora has legs of steel._

“Great! Just enough time for some quality bonding! Right, Bow?” Gimmer asked as she nudged him in the side with her elbow.

“Sure is Glimmer!” He returned the gesture.

_Okay, so these two are acting weird now._

“Soooooo… Adora… what’s your favorite animal? Glimmer asked as she looked back at Catra who was still trailing slightly behind them.

They didn’t really have animals in the Horde, so Catra struggled slightly. She knew about the thing Adora rode around on, but she had no idea what it was called.

“Uhhhhhh… my companion?” She answered unsurely.

This answer made Bow and Glimmer look at each other.

_Guess that was the wrong answer?_

Bow then asked another question. “What would you say is your worst habit?”

This was an easy question. Catra knew that Adora couldn’t stay still to save her live.

“Not being able to keep still, or I guess not being able to relax in any way according to the people around me.” Catra said with an involuntary grin on her face.

Glimmer laughed.

_Guess she liked that answer?_

“Okay, biggest pet peeve?” She continued to question her.

_Maybe, people asking me so many fucking questions!?_

Obviously Catra couldn’t say that, and there were so many things that Catra did that she knew pissed Adora off, but what was something that would still pertain to her now?

“When people take my stuff.” She said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Glimmer smiled at her. “Yeah that’s for sure. You get heated if anyone tries to take your sword away from you!”

Catra definitely knew all about that…

“Favorite food?” Bow asked.

That question threw Catra off slightly. “At the Horde? Definitely the grey ration bars. Now…?”

Another shared glance between Bow and Glimmer.

Mentioning the Horde was a slip up. Catra didn’t really know if Adora had a new favorite food outside of the Horde, so she came up with the best answer she could think of. A very Adora answer she thought.

She eyed the two before attempting to correct her answer. “I’m not really sure, everything is sooooooo tasty out here!”

That answer came out a little more sarcastic than she intended it to.

Glimmer was looking a little skeptical now. “Okay… tell me what’s your favorite color?

Oh, Catra knew the answer to this question in a heartbeat.

She smiled to herself. “Well…that’s kind of a trick question. I have two favorite colors, blue and yellow obviously.”

_What was this anyway? 20 questions? Maybe these two didn’t know as much about Adora as I thought. This all seems very one-sided too. _

_Are they starting to get suspicious of me?_

What Catra didn’t know was that Glimmer and Bow were doing this on purpose. Asking her questions, that they already knew the answer to, to see if something was up.

“Adora… could you give Glimmer and I a moment for a sec? Bow said as the group stopped walking.

“Ah, sure? I guess I’ll just go over here?” She said as she thumbed to a general area of the woods.

As Catra walked away and leaned against a nearby tree, Bow turned to face Glimmer.

“This is incredibly weird right?! Like, she’s getting most of the questions at least half right, but it’s like she’s not herself, like she only knows bits and pieces of her own personality!” Glimmer whisper shouted as she looked over to where Catra was standing.

Bow looked at her two as Catra picked at her nails. “Yeah, it’s almost as if she only knows the stuff she knew about herself when she was… still in the Horde… you don’t think?”

Glimmer’s eyes widened. “SHE LOST ALL HER MEMORY ABOUT US AND IS ONLY PLAYING ALONG NOW?”

“No, Glimmer. Calm down.” Bow said as he placed his hands on her shoulders to ground her. “This is going to sound crazy, but what if Adora, isn’t Adora?”

“WHAT!?’ Glimmer shouted a little too loudly.

Catra glanced at the pair, but still couldn’t hear their conversation.

“Shhhhhhh! Bow shushed her.

Glimmer narrowed her eyes before lowering her voice. “What do you mean Adora isn’t Adora?”

“I think that Adora’s body is still here, but here consciousness isn’t. I mean, think about it. Why else would she not be able to answer simple questions about herself? She only knows the answers to them as if she knew herself only when she was in the Horde. Almost as if she were a friend of herself and not her.” Bow attempted to explain but he was thinking but Glimmer still looked doubtful.

“Bow, that’s insane! How would that even happen?” She asked.

“Oh, I don’t know Glimmer! Etherian magic? Being able to turn into an 8ft tall warrior princess? Witchcraft? A curse? Take your pick!” Bow exclaimed as he listed off all the possibilities as to how this could have happened.

Glimmer crossed her arms over her chest. “No, need to get snippy Bow!”

Bow felt guilty. “Okay, I’m sorry… maybe it has something to do with us leaving Adora in the ruins by herself yesterday?

“I knew we shouldn’t have left her alone!” Glimmer said as she perked up slightly. “How are we even supposed to figure out who is in Adora’s body?”

Bow pondered this question for a moment before he smiled and brought his right fist down into his left. “Hit ‘em where it hurts?”

“Yeah!” Glimmer smiled before becoming confused. “Wait… what?”

He laughed slightly at his friend’s sudden change of emotions. “Ask her about the only thing Horde soldiers are uncomfortable with; relationship questions.”

A mischievous smile broke across her face. “Brilliant!”

* * *

As Catra was leaning on some tree, watching Glimmer and Bow as the seemingly argued with each other for the umpteenth time today, she really wondered how she found herself in this situation. What would drive Adora to go this far? Why would she want to switch bodies with her of all people? Her thoughts were interrupted by a flail of Glimmer’s arms, which she assumed was her signal to rejoin the duo.

“You guys done asking me questions yet?” Catra asked as she sauntered her way over to the pair.

“Not quite, we have one more for you.” Bow said.

Catra rolled her eyes.

Glimmer raised an eyebrow before speaking up; looking way too smug for Catra’s liking.

“Have you ever been in a relationship?” She spoke in a teasing tone.

Catra was confused. “A what?”

“Come on Adora! We’ve been over this!” Bow said playfully. “A relationship is between two, or more people in some cases, that deeply care for each other. Their love is more that platonic and they are romantically involved.”

Catra really didn’t know how to respond to this question, they didn’t really have relationships in the Horde. By the sounds of it, Adora and herself may have been in a relationship. All the gentle brushes against one another in the hallway, the handholding, heated sparring, cuddling…

A blush spread across her cheeks as Bow and Glimmer grinned at her.

_Oh, they’re still waiting for an answer… and I think they definitely think something is up now._

And if they were getting suspicious of her, she might as well have some fun.

A smug smile graced Catra’s face. “Oh, you mean like me and Glimmer?”

“WHAT!” Glimmer shouted.

Catra disregarded her tone. “Yeah, aren’t we like a thing?”

Glimmer was really getting frustrated at this point.

“NO! THAT’S ENOUGH! TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!” She shouted.

Catra, suddenly found herself pinned against a tree, with Glimmer staring up at her. She had a firm hold on Catra’s shoulder, her right fist was raised, and it was surrounded by pink energy. Catra could really squirm away from this hold if she wanted to, but honestly, she was finally having fun now.

“Take it easy there Sparkles, you might run out of juice again.” She said to egg her on.

The stern expression on Glimmer’s face fell at the realizeation, but it quickly turned into something a little harsher. “Sparkles? Wait… CATRA?!?!?!?”

“Awww, you finally figured it out.” Catra mocked.

Glimmer tightened her hold on Catra’s shoulder and the energy around her fist glowed brighter.

“What have you done to Adora!” She asked in a harsh tone.

“What have I done?” Catra chuckled and rolled her eyes. “More like what has Adora done to herself and to me!”

“Come one guys, settle down.” Bow interjected. “Glimmer please release Ador… Catra and we can try to figure this out together.”

Glimmer remained firm. “Not until she gives us answers Bow!”

“I don’t think you want to do that.” Catra said calmly.

“What are you gonna do? Lick me again?” She scoffed.

Catra smirked again. “If you want me to princess. It would probably be more fun as Adora anyway.”

With a wink, Catra saw Glimmer’s face flush red.

_Ha! It’s too easy messing with her. Almost as easy as messing with Adora._

“But seriously, it’s not like I’m going to run off. I have nowhere to go and I’m definitely not going back to the Horde looking like this!” Catra exclaimed.

Glimmer slowly released her grip from Catra and the energy around her fist slowly dissipated. The two harshly glared at each other before Glimmer spoke up again. “Fine, but now we need to find Adora, the _real_ Adora.”

Catra pushed off the tree and smoothed out her shirt. “Look at us, finally able to agree on something.”

“Great!” Bow said as he body relaxed from the standoff ending. “Now that we’re all on the same page, where do you think we can find her?”

She thought for a second. “Well, you all had this expedition planned since last night, right? If I know Adora, she’ll try anything possible to meet up with you guys because she knew where you were already going to be, which means…

Catra was suddenly cut off by Glimmer.

“…she’ll be heading towards the ruins too!” She shouted excitedly.

Catra let out an irritated grunt and then mumbled “Yeah…that’s exactly what I was going to say.”

“That means we have no time to lose! According to my tracker pad we can get there in an hour or so if we jog.” Bow stated as he looked down at the tablet.

“Or I can just teleport us there.” Glimmer interrupted. “I know where it is and it’s not that far.”

“Nope, no way, nuh uh.” Catra refuse.

“Come on! Don’t you want your body back! This is the quickest way to do it.” Glimmer said as she tried to convince her.

After internally debating with herself and weighing the pros and cons, Catra made up her mind.

“Fine.” She relented.

She held out an arm and Glimmer looped her arm around hers to lock their elbows together. The trio was then engulfed in pink magic and Catra remembered how much she had hated this feeling.

When the group had rematerialized, they had arrived at the ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Adora and Catra are finally in the same place, which can only mean one thing, fluff.
> 
> Update this Thursday!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	6. A Night at the Ruins

Catra opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them during teleportation, and what she saw was much different from what she had remembered before the invasion. Yesterday, as Catra scouted out the location, cottages had stood tall, the small-town market was bustling, and the townsfolk seemed quite content with their peaceful existence. Catra envied their seemingly oblivious sense of what war did to people, what war did to her.

Something in her went off. She knew that this was only supposed to be a scouting mission, but she wanted to teach these people a lesson about war, and if it pissed off Adora and her friends in the process, then that was even better. In a blind fit of rage, she attacked the civilian town without second thought and left so quickly after leaving her note on the tree, that she didn’t even assess the damages she inflicted.

Now, the small cottages lie in piles of rubble and the slight smell of smoke coming from small fires that were still burning, wafted in the air. Catra also noticed that some of the townsfolk had returned. A few of them were searching through tiny piles of debris scattered on the ground, while others dug through the remains of their houses, presumably trying to gather up the last of any belonging that they could find before scavengers raided the place.

Catra was so consumed in her surroundings that she almost forgot whose body she was in and where her allegiances lie until and outstretched arm invaded her vision and a voice spoke.

“See what you did?” Glimmer asked in an accusatory tone.

_I do._

Her stomach felt nauseous and she could feel the corners of her eyes dampen.

_What am I feeling right now?_

_Guilt maybe?_

_Wow, this whole princess thing really does rub off on you._

A voice interrupted her thoughts once more.

“Princesses! Thank goodness you are here.” An older man said as he approached the group with a smile, clearly happy that they were here.

“We are so sorry that we couldn’t make it in time yesterday. Please, tell us if there is _anything_ that we can do to help you now.” Glimmer said as she gave him a soft smile.

The man thought for a moment. “We could use your help clearing some rubble from a few houses in the area. Some entrances are blocked, and we could really use She-Ra’s strength to open these doorways back up.”

The trio froze.

Bow leaned over and whispered to Catra. Shielding his mouth with his hand, so the civilian couldn’t read his lips. “Can you even do that?”

_Might as well be honest, there’s no reason to lie at this point._

“No.” Catra answered truthfully.

What were they going to do? Catra tried to think of an answer to give, but thankfully Bow had already thought of one.

“We would love to do that sir, but even She-Ra’s strength wouldn’t prevent a cave in. I think that it would be safer to search the areas around the buildings and see what you can find there, instead of disrupting any already fragile structures by moving rubble from collapsed entrances.”

The old man took in Bow’s words and spoke again. “Makes sense to me! That’s why we need young smart minds like yours. Always thinking of things that we may have overlooked.”

The group sighed with relief and headed over to one of the more intact buildings to aid in the search of lost belongings.

As they were cleaning up the area, Catra remembered the question from this morning that she wanted to ask the group before they discovered who she really was. Hunched over still collecting small items from the rubble, she projected her voice towards Glimmer who was also clearing debris.

“Mind if I ask you a question?” She said.

“Go ahead.” Glimmer said as she picked up some intact items off the ground.

“How long was she down for?” Catra asked reluctantly.

“What?” She was confused, but still continued with the cleanup efforts.

Catra sighed. “I saw the scars on Adora’s back when I got dressed this morning. By the way that they healed, it looks like they were fairly deep. So, how long was she down for?”

Catra’s voice was soft. She genuinely wanted to know the answer to this question.

Glimmer paused her cleanup process to stand straight up and looked down at Catra who was still hunched over. She answered Catra in a very stern and monotone voice.

“Two weeks. She was on bed rest for two weeks and then light to mild activity for four. We wanted her scars to fully heal before she tried to do anything strenuous. You know, like turning into She-Ra and other things like that.”

_That’s almost two months_.

Catra realized in that moment that the feeling that she experienced earlier was not only guilt but regret too. Her face must have been showing what she was thinking because when Glimmer spoke again, it was in a much lighter tone that before.

“You didn’t think they would scar, did you?” She asked.

Catra shifted her focus from the task at hand and looked Glimmer directly in the eyes. She couldn’t muster an answer, all she did was shake her head from left to right.

_No_.

Glimmer sighed. “You still care about her, don’t you?’

_More than you could ever know._

Even if she didn’t vocally answer, Glimmer must have inferred what Catra wanted to say by what she uttered next.

“She misses you too, you know. Sometimes I think it physically hurts her when she has to fight you in battle. She really doesn’t want to hurt you at all. Honestly, if she could, I think she would just hold you until this war is over. By the way she talks about you, it seems like it was always you and her against the world. I think she might have loved you Catra.”

Catra had always had feelings for Adora, but to know that this may have been mutual shocked her. She took a moment to take all this information in before she responded.

“Thanks for telling me that.” She said with a slight grin while still looking at Glimmer.

She gave a smile of her own. “You’re welcome.”

Catra went back to picking up rubble and Glimmer followed suit.

By the time she looked up again, the sun was beginning to go down and Catra couldn’t believe that she had actually spent a whole day helping people with no benefit to her. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but she had even liked it. It made her feel good when she saw the small smiles on the civilians faces, instead of the terrifying looks that she was typically greeted with.

The trio decided it was a good time for a break. They all sat down on a nearby boulder to hydrate and eat some snacks as they watched the last remaining townsfolk sift through their belongings.

Now, there was nothing else to do, except wait for Adora’s arrival.

* * *

The skiff ride to the ruins was anything but pleasant for Adora. First off, she was sitting next to Entrapta the whole time, while Scorpia commandeered the skiff. They were currently halfway through the Whispering Woods and Entrapta was trying to get a fur sample from Adora’s, well Catra’s, arm as she repeatedly tried to come closer to her with a pair of tweezers.

“Please just one sample!” Entrapta begged. “Catra, would always refuse, but now you’re her! This is the last opportunity I’ll ever get!

Adora moved away from her again. “No! That’s exactly why I don’t want you to! Obviously Catra doesn’t want to give you a sample, so why should it be any different now that I’m in her body?”

“Come one, just a few hairs!” Entrapta said as she moved closer.

“Absolutely not!” Adora exclaimed.

Entrapta sighed and put away her tweezers and test tube vial, with a look of sheer disappointment on her face, she pulled out her recorder. “Catra’s body log number 2: Adora has refused to give me a sample of Catra’s fur, out of some sort of respect? Or perhaps a concern of violating Catra’s body, which is perplexing since she is in Catra’s body…”

Adora cringed.

After a brief moment of silence Scorpia spoke up. “Why would you even care at this point? You’re the one that left her for a bunch of strangers.”

_Ugh. Not this again._

That was another thing, Scorpia was really giving her an attitude now, which made Adora very uncomfortable and her question threw her off guard.

Adora became defensive. “I did it for the good of Etheria! And I thought you of all people would be concerned for the wellbeing of Catra, or at least her body, while I’m in it!”

“Ha! The good of Etheria.” Scorpia mocked her. “Maybe you should have been less focused on people you didn’t even know and paid attention to the one that loved you!”

_Loved?_

Adora’s mind stuttered. “What do you mean by that?”

“I see the way she looks at you whenever you’re in the same place. Whether that be in the heat of battle or just in a simple conversation, you can tell that she still cares for you. And the way she talks about you when it’s just the three of us… I just wish she would talk about me like that.” Scorpia’s shoulder slumped forward as she continued to steer the skiff.

Adora was completely dumbfounded. Did Catra still care for her? Did she _love_ her?

The sounded of Entrapta’s recorder cut through the air. “Catra’s body log number 3: How curious, Adora has apparently failed to recognize that not only did leaving the Horde detrimentally affect Catra, but that she also may have had some amorous feelings towards Adora too.” She was leaning forward, elbows on her knees, recorder in one hand, chin in the other, as she seemed entirely engrossed in this conversation.

Adora turned her body away from the group to look out into the woods and crossed her arms over her chest as Scorpia’s attention remained focused on steering the skiff.

“Uhhhh… I don’t think I’m really comfortable talking about this right now…” Adora said quietly.

“Yeah, me either…” Scorpia agreed.

The recorder turned on again. “Log number 4: It appears that Scorpia may also share some feel…”

“ENTRAPTA, PLEASE STOP!” Scorpia shouted in embarrassment.

The trio remained silent for the rest of the ride.

* * *

Catra, Glimmer and Bow were still settled down on the boulder, when they heard screaming.

“Horde soldiers are approaching, RUN!” A civilian called out from afar.

_Had people always been this afraid of us?_

“Guess Adora is here.” Bow simply stated.

“About time! The sun has nearly set!” Glimmer said in a somewhat irritated tone as she jumped from the large rock.

_Adora._

“This is going to be really weird seeing my body being controlled by someone else isn’t it?” Catra said as she hoped of the boulder.

Bow followed her down. “I mean… probably? At least it’s Adora who is in it right and not some stranger?

“Right…” Catra droned.

_Because that’s totally better._

As the last of the civilians ran off, with whatever belongings they had gathered, the trio headed towards the direction everyone was fleeing from. As they got closer, Catra spotted the skiff and the people that were on it. She had only expected Adora, but she should have been prepared for this too.

“Oh, no. They’re here too?” Catra shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“What? Who?” Glimmer questioned as she looked towards the skiff.

She let out a long exhale. “Scorpia and Entrapta.”

“Entrapta!?” Bow exclaimed.

“Scorpia? Who is that?” Glimmer asked.

“Long story, but it looks like Adora couldn’t keep up the act either… and now we’ve been spotted too.”

Adora leapt off the skiff as soon as she saw the group, and she full on sprinted towards them. She quickly engulfed Bow and Glimmer in a hug, squeezing them both tightly to her chest.

“I’m so glad you guys are still here!” Adora said cheerfully.

“Of course, we’re still here, we were getting worried that you wouldn’t be coming though. It was getting late.” Glimmer said as she hugged her back.

“You guys know that I would have done anything to get here.” Adora said sweetly.

“We know Adora.” Bow said with a smile. “Wait…what’s that noise? Glimmer do you hear that?”

Glimmer loosened her hold around the two. “Yeah, it sounds like a low rumbling… and Adora, why are you trembling?”

Adora had been so consumed in her excitement that she hadn’t even realized that she had started purring. She remembered when Catra used to purr back at the Horde and it always had a calming effect on Adora. What she didn’t realize was how happy she had to be in order to purr. In this moment, Adora felt euphoric and was surprised that Catra could ever feel this way too.

_Is this how Catra felt every time I had made her purr?_

_Did I really bring her this much happiness?_

Still hugging Bow and Glimmer, a slightly embarrassed Adora spoke up. “I guess… I was so happy to see you guys again…that I started purring?”

“Purring?” Glimmer said in a puzzled tone.

“Oh…my…goodness. THAT IS LITERALLY THE CUTEST THING EVER!” Bow exclaimed.

“It may be cute Bow, but that doesn’t change the fact that we are in a group hug with Catra’s body right now. Still kind of weird.” Glimmer said as she fully released her hold around the two.

He nodded. “True…but…*gasp* she’s sooooooo soft too! It’s like velvet! Glimmer feel it!”

Bow and Glimmer were stroking Adora’s arm, when she heard someone clearing their throat. She shifted her gaze from her friends and locked eyes with Catra, well with herself, but you get it.

“Hey, Adora.” Catra cooed before noticing what the group was doing. “Are you… are you purring? HEY! STOP THAT! I have a reputation to uphold you know! AND STOP PETTING ME!”

Ignoring her demands, but involuntarily compiling at the same time, Adora pulled away from Glimmer and Bow and slowly approached Catra.

She stopped purring.

Adore looked her body over. “Wow, this is so weird, it’s like looking in a mirror, expect your reflection does whatever it wants to do.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Catra agreed.

As the pair was examining one another, Entrapta and Scorpia had disembarked the skiff and were walking towards the group.

“Catra!” Scorpia called out. “Oh, please tell me you’re okay. ARE YOU OKAY?”

“Yeah, Scorpia, calm down I’m fine. Well as fine as I could be in someone else body. Speaking of which Adora you have a lot of questions to answer.” Catra said as she turned her attention back to her ex-best friend.

At this point the sun had fully gone down and it was getting really dark outside.

Adora looked at the sky before addressing the group. “I will, but I think we should try to put a camp together, it seems like we’re going to be staying here tonight. She then gestured to their current surroundings.

“I agree.” Bow stated. “A good night’s rest will do us all some good and we’ll see if we can resolve this problem in the morning.”

“That’s fine with me.” Scorpia chimed in. “I’ll start a campfire and grab some extra supplies from the skiff.”

“Deal.” Glimmer agreed.

Entrapta then cleared her throat before clicking on her recorder again. “Catra’s body log number 5: It appears that we will be spending the night in the ruins and will refocus on our mission in the morning.”

Catra turned towards Entrapta, hands on her hips, and gave her a puzzled, yet stern, look. “Catra’s body log? Why do you have a log about my body on you voice recorder?!”

“I told her she should change it!” Scorpia defended.

Catra sighed. “Whatever, let’s just decide where we are all going to sleep tonight.”

“I say we pair up.” Adora spoke suddenly, apparently ready to take control of this situation. “It’s safer that way and we can ration out the supplies. Bow and Glimmer, Entrapta and Scorpia, you and me.”

“What?! There is no way that I am sharing a sleeping space with you!” Catra argued.

“Makes perfect sense to me.” Bow chimed in.

Catra faced him, displeased that he thought that he was part of this conversation. “STAY OUT OF THIS BOW!”

Bow slowly walked backwards with his hands raised and left the two girls alone.

“What’s your problem?” Adora asked as Catra turned to face her again.

“What’s _my_ problem?!” Catra asked in a bewildered tone. “I’m in your fucking body Adora! Seems like a _big_ problem to me!”

“Language!” Adora snapped. “There’s nothing we can do about it right now, and it’s not like we didn’t share a bed with each other for the majority of our lives…it’s just for tonight.”

Catra let out a nasally laugh before speaking. “Language? Geez Adora are you really still a purist?”

Adora rolled her eyes. “Look, can’t we just sleep in the same vicinity as one another? I don’t really want to be attacked during the night, and I don’t think you want to either.”

“Okay, fine. You win.” She grumbled.

She sighed. “Always a competition with you isn’t it.”

Good thing Catra didn’t hear that as they made their way to their designated sleeping area.

* * *

Catra and Adora were the last pair to settle down for the night. They were supposed to sleep under a tree, close enough to the fire that they could still feel its warmth, but far enough away that they wouldn’t have to worry about catching on fire in the middle of the night. Under the tree they saw that Scorpia had placed a blanket and some other items there.

“I’ll take the blanket.” Catra said as she picked up the item.

“Excuse me?” Adora questioned.

“I know you don’t need one, you’re in my body.”

“Ugh.”

Catra settled down underneath the tree on her right side, with her right arm raised so she could rest her head on something other than the ground. She then draped the blanket over her body and felt the lull of sleep calling her. At least she did until she heard Adora, tossing and turning behind her back.

Catra quietly, but forcefully whispered, “Adora, what the fuck are you doing?’

“Ugh! I don’t understand! How can you even sleep in this body?!” She grunted.

“Shhhhhhh! You’re going to wake everyone else up.” Catra, regrettably pulled the cover off of her and crawled her way over to where Adora was flopping like a fish.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Adora asked.

“Get on your knees.”

“What?”

“Adora, I am literally this close to punching you in your face right now even though I’d basically be hitting myself. Get on your knees.”

Adora obliged and shifted her weight so she was sitting on her knees. Catra scooted closer and place her right hand on Adora’s left hip and shoulder, effectively pushing her down onto her right side. Adora let out a pained hiss.

“Oh shit, I forgot about that sorry.” Catra apologized after recalling what had happened to her body the previous day.

“Yeah, well I may have made it a little worse…” Adora droned while looking away from her.

Catra let out a long sigh before she spoke again. “Okay, now put your arms out like this.” She crossed her arms across her chest before lifting them to the front of her face. “Good, now rest her head on your arms.”

Adora did and found the position surprisingly comfortable.

“Better?” She asked.

“Better.” Adora confirmed.

Catra then crawled her way back over to the blanket and resumed the position she was in before she was interrupted by Adora and quickly fell asleep, at least that’s what Adora thought before she spoke up one last time.

“Thank you.” She said.

“You’re welcome, now go to sleep Adora. Good night.”

“Night.”

* * *

Adora awoke to the sound of embers crackling in the night. The fire must have gone out and she was cold. She popped her head up and scanned the area, Bow, Glimmer, Scorpia, Entrapta and Catra were all still asleep. Bow was using his blanket, while Glimmer had covered herself with her cape and Scorpia and Entrapta had their backs together under their blanket.

_Smart_, she thought.

That seemed like a good idea to Adora, so she slowly clawed her way closer to where Catra was sleeping, laid down on her left side and scooted closer to Catra until their backs were touching. She felt the warmth instantly, but she was still cold.

_This will have to do though_, she thought and tried to fall back asleep until she heard a very faint voice.

“I can feel you shaking.” Catra whispered.

Adora tensed, she didn’t think Catra was awake. Maybe she had woken her up?

“Sorry… I’ll go.”

Before Adora could move away however, she felt Catra lift up the blanket.

“You won’t shake if you get under.” She said softly.

Adora took the opportunity to slide under the blanket and remain back to back with Catra.

She was confused as to why Catra was being so nice to her tonight, but she certainly felt warmer now in more ways than one.

* * *

It had to be some other ungodly hour in the morning when Catra awoke to the sound of mumbling and movement behind her back. This was the third time tonight she had been woken up. She was not going to be well rested.

“What now Adora?” Catra grumbled.

No Answer.

“Adora?” She called out.

Catra heard heavy breathing and then more mumbling, which she tried to make out as clearly as possible.

“No… please… don’t…” Adora slurred.

Then, a few short rapid breaths and more mumbling.

“Stay… away…”

Followed by a swift kick to the back of the leg and more words.

“Someone… help…”

This prompted Catra to quickly turn to her left side, so that she was now facing Adora. She leaned on her left elbow so she could see her face. What she saw was unexpected. Still lying on her left side, Adora had her arms up as if she was trying to defend herself and Catra heard a few sobs escape her lips.

“Is she crying? Catra asked herself as she slowly raised a hand to her face and wiped away the tears that stained her cheeks. “Shhhhhh. It’s okay, I have you.” She reassured her as she stroked her cheek.

This seemed to settle Adora down a little bit as her movements subsided and her arms lowered, but her mumblings continued. Catra pulled her hand away and when she went to turn her back once more, Adora spoke.

“Stay.”

“What?”

No Answer.

It appears that Adora was still asleep and had been throughout this whole ordeal.

A conversation with herself in more ways than one Catra thought.

Catra slowly laid back down on her left side and stayed close to Adora. Her hands were curled up behind Adora’s back and her knees were tucked behind her at a matching angle.

The morning would be interesting to wake up to, but that was still a few hours away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look! We finally have a chapter count for this work! Also, what do you think Adora was dreaming about?
> 
> Next Chapter: Catra and Adora look for answers.
> 
> Update Sunday!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	7. The Path to Reconciliation

When Adora awoke in the morning she felt a heavy weight across her waist and thigh. She lifted the blanket ever so slightly and peered under. What she saw shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was, but given their current condition, it was definitely strange. She saw her own arm and leg, being draped around Catra’s waist and thigh, which was also her waist and thigh? They really needed to fix this situation.

_Am I really being spooned by myself right now?_ She thought.

_More like being crushed by myself._

Adora, slowly tried to pry her way from Catra’s grip before the arm tensed around her waist and pulled her in again.

“Stop, just enjoy the moment.” Catra’s voice was groggy but oddly soothing to Adora’s ears.

_Is this what I sound like in the morning?_

“How can I enjoy the moment when you’re literally crushing me, with my own body?” Adora asked playfully.

“Now you know how it feels, and I know it’s not that bad.” Catra said as she held her closer.

Catra was right, the embrace was kind of comforting and Adora relaxed as much as she could into the embrace. It was still kind of bizarre.

“Why are you doing this anyway?” Adora questioned.

“I heard you mumbling in your sleep, I just assumed you were having a nightmare again. I’m really surprised you didn’t wake yourself up.”

_You told me to stay_, Catra thought.

Adora tensed slightly. “Oh… you know about those?”

“Yeah, when I first woke up in your body I screamed, and Glimmer came in to check up on me and mentioned them.”

“She is always worried about me…” Adora said with a tinge of guilt in her voice.

Catra laughed. “Yeah, no shit. Bow too. They were both practically up my ass yesterday trying to figure out why I was acting so weird.”

That earned a chuckle out of Adora. “They can both be… a little much at times. Sorry if they gave you any trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s good that you have friends that care about you.”

An awkward silence fell over them before they heard some rustling and talking close by.

“I think the others are starting to wake up, we should probably move if you don’t want to be found like this.” Adora said as she began to shift under Catra’s hold.

“That, and I really have to pee too.” She admitted honestly.

“Catra!” Adora shouted.

They slowly began disentangling themselves from one another.

Catra laughed. “What? You can’t tell me that you haven’t gone to the bathroom as me already.”

Adora looked away. “Well… yeah, obviously I have. We’ve been like this for more than 24 hours…”

“See… and it can’t be any worse than me taking a shower in your body.” Catra admitted.

“You WHAT?!” Adora shouted as she stood up from the ground.

“Calm down princess, it’s not my fault you don’t take showers before you go to bed and it’s not like I’ve never seen you naked before.” Catra got up off the ground too before stretching as Adora processed this new information.

Adora blushed, but it was true. They grew up in close quarters together and probably have seen all of the other cadets naked at one point or another, especially in the locker room.

“Trust me, it was very classy… kept my gaze straight ahead… didn’t see anything.” Catra attempted to reassure her.

“Yeah right!” Adora scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Okay, I looked down once, but that’s only because the towel slipped!” She confessed.

Catra’s cheeks were flushing now. She needed to get end this conversation. “Look, I really have to pee. I’ll be right back!”

“We are not done talking about this Catra!” Adora yelled after her.

“Yes we are!” Catra shouted back.

Adora lost sight of Catra as she ran off.

* * *

Adora was standing next to the rekindled fire when Catra came back to camp. Everyone else seemed to be up now too and someone had caught something to eat for breakfast, which was currently cooking on the fire that Bow was attending to. Glimmer was watching him over his shoulder, while Entrapta and Scorpia were talking nearing the skiff.

“Breakfast is ready!” Bow called out to the group.

They all sat around the fire to warm their bodies in the still cool morning air as Bow passed out portions of breakfast on some leaves that he had decided to use as plates. Everyone sat in an uncomfortable silence, with only the sounds of their chewing filling the air, before Catra decided to speak. “So, are you going to tell us how this happened, or what?” Her question clearly directed towards Adora.

That was definitely the elephant in the room.

“Yes! I would very much like to know how this happened!” Entrapta’s eyes were gleaming.

“Yeah, why would you ever do this to yourself? Especially with someone like _Catra_? Glimmer asked before they glared at each other.

“Hey!” Scorpia cut in. “Leave Catra out of this! It’s obviously Adora’s fault! You should be mad at her!”

“Guys, calm down.” Bow interjected. “Let’s try to get to the bottom of how this happened. Is it a new She-Ra ability or something?

Adora, sighed. She was glad that all these people were either concerned or curious about how this situation came about, but she really wasn’t sure how they’d all handle the truth. She steadied herself before speaking up. “No time like the present I guess…”

Everyone was staring at Adora now. She darted her eyes around and swallowed harshly before she continued. “So…after Bow and Glimmer went back to Bright Moon and left me here two days ago, I was left feeling so confused. I just didn’t know why you would attack an innocent civilian town in the middle of nowhere.”

She looked at Catra, who adverted her gaze.

Adore went on. “So, I did the only thing I could think of…I set out to find my mentor, hoping she could help me find some answers.”

“You have a mentor?” Scorpia asked.

“You went to talk to Light Hope?” Glimmer questioned.

“Yes and no.” Adora answered.

This earned a puzzled look from the group.

She mumbled _this is going to sound crazy_ before continuing. “There is this woman… in the Whispering Woods… that always seems to find me in a time of need. Her name is Razz. She knew Mara, who was the previous She-Ra…”

“She knew the previous She-Ra?” Bow said surprisingly. “Adora you realize how ridiculous this sounds right? There hasn’t been a She-Ra for well over a thousand years…”

“Yeah!” Glimmer agreed. “And if she existed, how come we’ve never met her before?”

“I know it sounds unbelievable but it’s true!” Adora said as she glanced around briefly before looking at Catra again and perked up. “It’s true and I can prove it!” She quickly got up and walked over to where Catra was sitting across from her.

“What are you…” Catra eyed her but Adora stuck her hand down Catra’s jacket searching for something before she could complete that sentence. You could say that she was slightly taken off guard by this. “HEY!”

“Sorry…” Adora said as she pulled out the empty vial that had been filled with the potion Madame Razz gave her two days ago.

Scorpia looked at the bottle before speaking. “Uh huh, and how is that supposed to prove anything?”

Entrapta quickly snatched the vial from Adora’s hands. She let out a loud laugh and she clutched it to her chest. “Do you know what this is?!”

Scorpia gave her a confused look. “A bottle…”

“It’s a First One’s vial!” She exclaimed.

The group was kind of lost as to where Entrapta was going with this.

“I’ve been studying up on the First One’s culture recently and only the finest spell casters had vials like these back then!” She continued.

“You mean like a witch?” Glimmer asked.

“Noooooo, something more along the line of the sorcerers from Mystacor.” Entrapta corrected her.

_Basically, still a witch_. Catra thought.

Bow tried to get a better look at the vial and realized something. “Adora, I think she might be right. My Dads have an artifact kind of like this in their Library.”

_Madame Razz is linked to the Frist One’s?_ Adora thought. _I guess that kind of makes sense._

“Look… that’s really good and all, but I’m more concerned about getting my body back. How do you propose we do that?” Catra asked.

Adora sighed. “I haven’t quite figured that out yet, but I thought if Razz was the one to create the potion, she’d know how to reverse it? I was going to look for her this morning and ask her some questions.”

“You? By yourself?” Catra shook her head. “No way, I’m coming with you.”

“Haven’t you been paying attention? She only shows up when it’s just me.” Adora repeated. “Not like I know where to find her either. She just sort of pops up most of the time.”

Catra pondered that statement before she responded. “Well if I have your body and you have your consciousness, does it really matter? Technically I am you, even though you’re you too.”

“This is all very confusing.” Scorpia said through a sigh.

“Agreed, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.” Adora said.

“Great! Let’s go!” Catra yelled, ready to get this body swap over asap.

The duo stood up and started heading over to where they spent the night to gather some last-minute supplies and headed off as they heard their friends call out to them.

“Stay safe wildcat!” Scorpia cheered.

“Be careful!” Glimmer said with a wave.

“Good luck!” Bow shouted.

“Have fun aimlessly wandering the forest together!” Entrapta called out.

With that, Catra and Adora headed off into the Whispering Woods in search of finding Madame Razz.

* * *

They had been walking in silence for around twenty minutes when Catra spoke up, recalling the information Glimmer had provided her yesterday about Adora’s back.

“Sorry.” Catra said under her breath.

“What?” Adora asked in a stunned voice.

“I’m not going to say it again.”

“Okay, but what for?’ Adora continued to question her.

“Remember how I said I took a shower yesterday morning?”

“Yeah… what about it…?” Many thoughts began running through Adora’s mind. “WHAT DID YOU DO CATRA?”

“Geez chill, I’m not a creep.” She defended but Adora remained silent. “I saw the scars.”

“Oh.” She finally breathed out.

“Yeah, oh.” Catra mimicked her.

Another moment of silence passed.

“It’s okay.” Adora finally spoke up after seemingly accepted her sorry excuse of an apology.

“No, it’s not Adora! You don’t always have to play the martyr you know. I attacked you in the heat of the moment, I wasn’t really thinking. But afterwards I did think about it, and I thought She-Ra didn’t scar so it never crossed my mind again until it slapped me in the face yesterday.” Catra’s words and tone were sincere. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she stopped walking.

“Catra, we are supposed to be enemies. Plus, She-Ra usually doesn’t scar, but I guess these were different? They were deeper than the scraps and scuffs I usually get, so maybe that’s why? I don’t know, I haven’t really figured out She-Ra’s healing abilities yet.” Adora said in a somewhat defeated tone.

_I never wanted to be enemies_, Catra thought. She couldn’t admit that now. “That still doesn’t give you an excuse to forgive me so easily.”

“And you don’t have an excuse to pity me anymore.” Adora retorted.

They continued walking side by side.

Now that their weird form of an ice breaker was out of the way. Adora felt like she could finally bring up something that has been bothering her this whole time.

“So Entrapta and Scorpia, huh? You seem pretty close to them.” She said as she kept her line of sight straight ahead.

Catra wasn’t expecting this to be the next thing Adora would bring up, but she honestly didn’t know what to expect anymore. She shrugged her shoulders. “More like they’re close to me, but yeah, I guess they’re good to have around.”

“But, you would consider them your friends, or… what?” Adora continued to avoid eye contact.

_Where is this coming from_, Catra thought.

“Well, I do visit them every day, which you probably already know, and I usually enjoy their company. Even if Entrapta is a maniac and Scorpia is an annoyance most of the time, but yeah I would say they’re my friends.”

“Okay, but which one do you like more?” She paused. “Scorpia seems to have a lot of affection for you.”

Catra smiled. “Scorpia has no sense of personal space, that does not mean I reciprocate those feelings of affection.”

Catra heard an audible exhale from Adora, she almost sounded relieved and then she giggled. “Catra, _you_ literally have no sense of personal space.”

_Only when it comes to you_, Catra wanted to say.

Instead, she just rolled her eyes and ignored her.

Adora cleared her throat, and sounded like she was chocking, as she uttered her next words. “So… you and Scorpia aren’t… like a thing?”

_Oh, so that’s what this is about_, Catra thought. _Interesting. Maybe Glimmer was right._

“Gods, no! Not in a million years. Why do you ask?” Catra stopped walking and smirked, before Adora turned to face her.

“Why’d you stop walking?” Adora asked as she finally looked her in the eyes.

Catra flashed her a smug smirk before speaking. “Adora, are you _jealous_?”

“Jealous? Pppsssttt…jealous of what? I have **nothing** to be jealous about.” She tired to play it off.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re asking me all these questions about me and my friends. More specifically Scorpia. You’re trying to be subtle about it, but that’s really not working for you, is it?”

“Catra, I am **not** jealous.” She gritted her teeth.

Catra was having way too much fun now. She decided to amp up her teasing. “Whatever you say princess. You know I could ask you the same question about Glimmer.”

She was shocked. “WHAT?!”

“Come on Adora, are you really that oblivious? She definitely has some sort of crush on you. I think Bow even knows about it. And I’m sure all the girls swoon over you when you’re She-Ra.” Catra raised and lowered her eyebrows a few times while looking at Adora.

Adora was pretty flustered at this point and Catra was enjoying every moment of it, even if it was still weird that she was looking at her body, she knew that these emotions were purely Adora.

“Yeah! Well… well… GUYS LIKE IT TOO!” She exclaimed.

Catra busted out laughing. That was a panicked Adora answer if she’s ever heard one. “Guys? Really Adora? Like you care what guys think about you.”

“I care about what everyone thinks _Catra_.” She said.

Catra then spoke in a the most sarcastic tone she could muster from Adora’s body. “Oh yes, I know that the all mighty She-Ra must care about what everyone thinks, because it’s for ‘the good of Etheria’ or some shit, but you know what I meant.”

“No, I really don’t.” Adora crossed her arms over her chest.

Catra smacked herself and drug her hand down her face.

_Is she really this dumb?_ Catra thought. _Or is she trying to get a rise out of me now? I’m **not** going to let that happen._

“Adora, I know you don’t care if a guy has the hots for you or She-Ra. You would much prefer a woman to be attracted to you. I bet that flower princess really goes for the muscles and the water one probably fell for the height or hair. And, oh Glitter? She probably goes for you naivety. You both have that in common. Honestly, you’re perfect for each other.”

Adora was furiously blushing at this point and she looked like she wanted to respond but Catra spoke once more. *gasp* “Adora… is this how you got the princesses to join the Rebellion? You probably just showed up and flexed, and they fell to their knees ready to join. Did I get it right? Maybe the Horde just needs some super-hot buff warrior to get more recruits too.”

Adora may have been in a daze from Catra’s off hand statements, but she caught that last sentence and was not going to let that slip. She smirked. “Did you just call me hot?”

It was Catra’s turn to be caught off guard, she didn’t mean to say that. “What? No! I was talking about you from the princesses perspective!”

“Whatever you say Force Captain.” Adora smirked.

Catra rolled her eyes. She was not going to lose this game. “Besides She-Ra really doesn’t do it for me. It all seems like an act, but you on the other hand…”

Catra looked down to examine the body she was currently inhabiting. “Solid 6 out of 10.”

Adora’s jaw dropped. “6 out of 10? WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!”

With a wink, Catra sped up so she could walk in front of Adora before she caught up again.

“Oh, if you want to play this game Catra, I can go there too.” She said as she fell in step with Catra again.

She smiled. “Game? No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh, sure you don’t. Anyway, what even is this situation?” Adora gestured to herself and Catra laughed.

_She’s really going there I guess_, Catra thought to herself.

“So, my body is a situation now? It’s really not that complex Adora. I actually feel bad for you know. This human body isn’t that fun.” Catra pinched various spots on her body as Adora looked on.

“Not that complex?! You have a tail that has a mind of its own, supersonic hearing that picks up every little noise and nails that are like daggers! And what do you mean my body isn’t fun!?”

Catra laughed again. “Awwwwww, thank you for the compliments, I know my body is amazing. And I meant what I said. I literally mean your body isn’t fun. I can’t jump anywhere, I feel heavy from all this muscle, I can barely hear anything, I’m always cold, I have to wear shoes, I’m always hungry, I can only get clean by bathing, do you want me to continue?”

Catra was definitely better at this than she was, Adora needed to think of an answer quick. “Oh yeah… well… you have fur all over your body!”

_What is she even saying right now?_ Catra thought as she shook her head and smiled. “Real hurtful Adora, guess I’ll just have to cry myself asleep tonight.”

“Ugh! Have you always been this annoying? Or is it just amplified because you’re in my body?!”

“You know you love it.” She smirked.

Adora looked like she was trying to think of something to say, but Catra already had a different topic on her mind before Adora could rebuttal again. “So… those nightmares… you want to talk about them?”

The mood shifted instantly.

It went from being lighthearted to strained as Adora visibly tensed beside her.

“Uhhhhh…will you accept no as an answer, or will you keep pestering me about it?” Adora questioned.

“Do you even have to ask that?”

She sighed. “Ugh, fine. What do you want to know?”

Catra thought for a moment as she recalled what Adora was mumbling last night. “Well, it sounded like you were arguing with someone. Who were you talking too?”

Adora ignored that question. “I talk in my sleep now? Great!”

“One, you’ve always talked in your sleep. Two, you also kicked me in the back of the leg.”

“Oh, sorry.” She apologized.

“I’m guessing you were fighting with someone. Your breaths were pretty rapid, and your arms were up in a defensive position.”

“Yeah…” Adora fell silent.

Catra began thinking that Adora’s lack of answers was suspicious.

She started putting the pieces together.

“Okay, so you’re scared of whomever you’re fighting in your dream. You… don’t want to hurt them, but they are obviously trying to hurt you. You begged them to stop, but they kept going…”

No response.

Catra suddenly came to an unnerving conclusion. She stopped walking. “Adora, are you having nightmares about me?

No answer, but Adora stopped walking too.

Catra moved in front of Adora, grabbed her by the shoulders and held her gaze. “What am I doing to you in those dreams! Please tell me.”

Adora couldn’t speak. She was trying not to cry, but some tears had already escaped.

“Adora! Please!” Tears were beginning to fall from Catra’s eyes now.

Shakily, Adora answered. “I…I don’t…I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“Adora, we have too! I need to know! I never meant to hurt you and I don’t want to continue hurting you!”

“W… what?” Adora asked through trembling lips.

Catra couldn’t stop the following word vomit that started spilling from her mouth. “I never wanted to fight you, I should have joined your side, but I was scared about leaving everything I knew behind. That’s why I stayed at the Horde, but it’s just even worse without you. Yeah, Scorpia and Entrapta are nice and all, but you were my best friend, my whole world… and to be honest… you still are.”

Adora was stunned, but she was crying happy tears now.

“Catra, you’re my whole world too.” Adora quickly wrapped her arms around Catra and they embraced.

Catra moved back and wiped away her tears, before she held Adora’s face in her hands as she thumbed away the tears on her cheeks. “Wow, my eyes really are cool. No wonder you like them so much.”

She laughed as Adora elbowed her in the side, before her demeanor became serious once again and she spoke up. “The dreams…”

She had Catra’s attention again and Adora took a deep breath before she continued.

“The dreams… they all start out the same. I’m lying down in my room, when I hear a noise. I get up from my bed to investigate and that’s when I see you. But, it’s not really you. You don’t look the same. Half of your body is consumed by darkness and you grab my sword and start walking towards me.”

Catra recalls the words she heard from last night.

_No… please… don’t…_

“But you just keeping walking towards me with the sword pointed in my direction, and then you pounce.”

_Stay… away…_

“You hold the blade to my throat, and I try to push you off my body with everything I have, but it feels like I’m glued to the floor.”

_Someone…help…_

“…And then my world goes dark. That’s usually when I wake up, but for some reason last night I guess I didn’t?

Then Adora remembers how they woke up this morning. “Maybe it’s because you comforted me in my sleep? Kind of ironic that the person who is giving me nightmare also gives me solace.” She chuckled to herself. “Thanks, by the way.”

Adora just now realized that Catra hadn’t said a word during her dream affirmation. She had only been staring at her this whole time. “Hey, you alright?” She asked.

“Yeah… it’s just really heavy stuff to take in. Can I apologize on the behalf of dream me?’

Adora giggled, which lifted Catra’s spirits slightly.

“Apology accepted, especially now that I know you’re a huge sap for me.”

Catra playfully pushed Adora by the shoulder. “Ugh. Can’t you be serious for one moment?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Catra, I’m always serious.” She stuck her tongue out. “Besides, I don’t think I have to worry about you killing me anymore, right?”

“Of course not.” Catra took a hold of Adora’s hand and they continued walking again.

Catra and Adora didn’t know when it happened, but they had found themselves walking on a path that looked like it had been used recently. There were worn patches of grass and Adora saw recognizable marks on the trees. Catra was snapped out of her emotional daze when Adora spoke in a way to excited tone from what they had just been talking about.

“This looks familiar! Quickly, this way!” Adora dragged Catra by her hand along the path as fast as she could.

What Catra saw next was unexpected. She honestly thought Adora was making this person up.

The girls entered a clearing, canopied by trees, in which there was a little cottage that stood at its center.

They had reached their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we can all agree that flustered Adora is the best, right? Oh, and Adora's dream Catra is basically portal Catra from Season 3. 
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos if you're excited for the final chapter!
> 
> Next Chapter: Razz tells the girls how to reverse the potion.
> 
> Final update Wednesday!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute


	8. This Feels Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are guys, we've made it to the end! Hope you enjoy!

The cottage was less impressive than Catra thought it would be. She imagined that a powerful witch would have an intimidating dwelling. Possibly something along the lines of what Light Hope had at the Crystal Castle. This, however, was quite approachable and she now followed behind Adora, instead of holding her hand, who gently knocked on the small cabin door.

Slowly, the cottage door creaked open and Catra examined the old woman who stood before her. She noted her tattered, moth bitten, clothes and matted long hair. If Catra thought her hair was bad, this woman’s was next level. She also noticed that this woman also had large thick glasses and even carried a broom around with her.

_Seriously, Adora? This woman literally screams witch! _Catra thought before the old woman spoke.

“Mara dearie, you’re back!” She glanced between the girls. “Why are there two of you?”

“Off to a good start.” Catra joked.

“Shush Catra!” She said in a harsh tone while looking directly at Catra before acknowledging her mentor. “Hi Madame Razz, I have some questions about the potion you gave me a couple days ago.”

“Ah, yes. Please come in.”

The girls sat down on the uncomfortable living room chairs. Adora looked like she was in her element, while Catra was very uneasy. She noticed all the vials and bottles lining the walls, covered in labels she couldn’t read, and her conscious was just screaming at her to get out. However, she had to stay her to make sure Adora got answers about how to switch them back.

“This place is… interesting….” Catra muttered to herself before Razz spoke.

“So, what’s your question? Was there a problem with the potion?”

“See, that’s the thing. When I drank the potion two nights ago, I didn’t think this *she gestured to herself and Catra* was going to happen.”

“You drank some random potion without knowing what it did Adora?!”

“I trusted her, okay!” She tried to defend herself.

“Real smart.”

Razz observed the girls before her. Adora’s stance was defensive even though she was still seated. With her arms and legs crossed, she stared directly at Catra who had her eyes squinted at her and hand raised in a general _why the fuck would you do that _position. Though their body language still seemed guarded, there was a familiarity and playfulness behind the whole act too. They continued their starring contest until Razz interrupted them.

“When you came to me and said that you wanted to understand your friend’s motivations behind her actions, I thought this would be the best solution. Is this not what you wanted dear?”

“This is not what I meant, when I said I wanted to know Catra better!” Adora exclaimed.

“Oh, well I am sorry for the misunderstanding, but were you not able to understand her better?”

Adora thought about what Madame Razz said. From the moment she woke up in Catra’s body, she had to deal with all the pressure, trauma, and strain that she had to put up with in the Horde. They were also able to talk more to each other than they have been in the last year. It almost felt like they were back to being _them_. In a sense Adora was able to understand Catra better, because she was literally living Catra’s life through her eyes.

She looked at Catra who was already back to staring at her. “Yeah… yeah… I guess I did.”

Catra gave her a small grin and they both turned their attention back to Madame Razz.

Catra suddenly spoke. “That great and all, but we still don’t know how we are supposed to change back.”

“It’s really quite simple ladies. You have fallen out of sync with each other and will not be able to revert back to your old bodies unless you regain the harmony you once had.”

“And If we can’t?” Catra asked.

“You’ll be stuck like this forever!” She cheered, clearly disregarding the severity of the situation.

Adora tensed. “What!?”

“Fucking great…” Catra sighed.

“Well, if that’s all you need to know, I must be on my way. The berries don’t pick themselves you know!” Madame Razz quickly shuffled towards the exit before saying one last thing. “Oh! And remember She-Ra!”

Then she disappeared out of the cottage door and Adora stood to follow her. “Razz, wait!”

It was too late, when Adora stepped outside she was nowhere to be found. She grunted as Catra emerged from the cottage and stood to Adora’s left.

“That was useless.” Catra commented.

Adora wasn’t paying attention to Catra at the moment, she was still too occupied by what Razz had said.

“What is it with being She-Ra and riddles!?” Adora threw her hands into the air and let out a frustrated groan. “Like, what did she even mean by that?! We need to be in sync? Past harmony? Remember She-Ra? What?”

Catra just stood watching Adora while she was throwing at fit. “Adora you need to calm down. This isn’t going to solve anything. Maybe we can try to relieve your frustrations some other way, instead of, I don’t know, yelling at the sky?”

_Wow, am I really being the rational one right now?_ Catra thought. _What a turn of events._ She mentally laughed at herself.

“Frustrations? I am beyond frustrated Catra! I’m confused, infuriated, concerned, upset…I feel like I am experiencing every emotion possible at this very moment!” Adora was now pacing back and forth in front of Catra as she spoke. “And I can’t even hit anything to get my anger out, because I’m you!”

Catra thought for a second. “Well, when I’m mad I usually scratch things, maybe you should try that?”

She paused her pacing. “Scratch things? Hmmmm… I guess that could work.” Adora walked over to a nearby tree, placed both of her hands on its trunk, dug her nails in and dragged both arms down. “This… this… FEELS AMAZING!”

She kept scratching wildly at the tree as Catra looked on. Little bits of bark were flying off the tree and falling to the ground. Adora’s eyes were wide and her ears were flattened.

_She’s really enjoying herself, isn’t she?_ Catra thought.

_I wonder if I look that insane when I claw at things?_

She noticed that Adora’s pace was now slowing down. _Must be getting tired. _

Her suspicions were confirmed as Adora stopped and walked back over to Catra. She was breathing heavily but she looked much more relaxed than before. Catra looked over to the tree to inspect the damage Adora did to it, before speaking. “Impressive… how do you feel now?”

“Calmer.” Adora said after taking a deep breath.

“Good. Now that that’s out of your system, I say we head back to camp and see if our friends have any ideas on how to solve these riddles.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The pair began walking away from the cottage, when Catra heard a noise. She turned around and saw nothing. “Wait, wasn’t the cottage just there?”

“Don’t question it.” Adora said nonchalantly.

They keep walking towards the camp, hopeful that their friends would be able to help them.

* * *

When they arrived back at camp, Bow, Glimmer, Scorpia and Entrapta were all sitting in a circle talking. They seemed to be getting along really well. Their postures were relaxed, there were smiles on their faces and laughter filled the air.

_Why can’t it be like this all the time?_ Adora thought. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Bow was the first to acknowledge the girls return. He bumped Glimmer’s shoulder and pointed, which prompted everyone to look at what he had spotted. The group looked excited by their return, everyone stood up and began walking over to the duo, but Bow was the first to reach them. “So, did you get any answers from this Razz character?” He was gleaming with excitement as he waited for Adora’s answer.

“Barely! She just left me with a bunch of riddles like usual.” Adora said in an irritated tone. “I really shouldn’t be surprised.”

She heard Glimmer sigh. “That seems to be the case with a lot of She-Ra mysteries…”

“Right?!” Adora agreed.

“Then how are we supposed to get you two back to normal?!” There was genuine concern in Scorpia’s voice. Adora wondered what had changed.

_Maybe she talked with Bow and Glimmer?_

“We’re not sure, that’s why we came back here.” Catra interjected. “Maybe we could all brainstorm solutions or something?”

Entrapta made a humming noise, prompting the group to focus on her. “This is quite the dilemma… what kind of hints did she give you?”

“She said that we were out of sync, need to find our past harmony and to remember She-Ra.” Catra answered.

“Okay, let’s try to break this down piece by piece.” Bow began. “What do we think she meant by out of sync?”

“We always used to work together as a team, but I don’t see how that would help us…” Adora answered.

“And when would you work as a team?” Entrapta asked.

“Usually during fighting simulations in the Horde.” Adora continued. “We would team up against the other cadets and if we were fighting against one another, we would be pretty evenly matched.”

“Are we supposed to fight each other or something?” Catra cracked her knuckles and playfully grinned at Adora.

“Even I think that would be the opposite of helpful.” Glimmer and Catra shared another mutual look of annoyance, but there also seemed to be some respect behind those looks too.

“You know what else isn’t helpful? You.” Catra joked.

“Didn’t we just help a civilian town sort through rubble looking through their belongings together yesterday?” Glimmer asked in an annoyed tone.

“What about it Twinkles?” Catra remarked.

Glimmer just shook her head.

_No fighting? And they’re acting friendly? That’s an interesting development._ Adora thought.

Adora sighed. “Can we just move on to the next one? I don’t think we’re getting anywhere with the ‘be in sync’ thing.”

“Fine. What about past harmony?” Bow asked as he thought about the second question.

“This seems like it’s the easiest one to figure out. You two were best friends in the Horde, right?” Entrapta asked and there was a nod of agreement shared between Adora and Catra. “Then we just have to figure out how to reestablish that close bond that you used to have.”

“Well, we already kind of sorted out through some of our problems during our trip to find Razz.” Adora confessed.

“Ohhhhhhhh, did you?” Glimmer gave them an accusatory look.

“Gross Glimmer!” Catra shouted. “I’m not some perv that would want to kiss myself! Maybe if I were in my actual body things might be different…” Catra tensed as she realized what she had just said. She had forgotten that Adora was still next to her and she could feel her face begin to flush.

“You want to kis…” Adora was cut off with an interruption from Scorpia and Catra was relieved for a split second.

“Wait, how did you reconnect with the person you said you hated?” She asked.

Catra was no longer relieved. “Not helping Scorpia!”

“You hated me?” Adora was staring at Catra with wide eyes.

“…I think this would be a good time to leave you guys alone…” Bow ushered the group away from Catra and Adora.

Catra sighed. “Adora, I could never hate you and I never did. I’ve already told you this today!”

“But, Scorpia said…”

“She doesn’t know me like she thinks she does. When I’m…scared and confused… I say things that I don’t mean.”

“I know, but it’s still kind of harsh. You know?” Catra nodded and brushed against Adora’s shoulder before she mouthed _sorry_ to her. “Wow… two apologies in one day?”

“Hey! That one doesn’t count! I didn’t vocally say it!”

“Okay, weirdo…”

“Dork.”

They started shoving one another and giggling before their play fighting escalated. Adora got Catra into a headlock, and then the familiarity of the situation hit her, and sadness began to overtake her emotions. This made her release her grip, allowing Catra to stand back up again. Catra gave her a questioning gaze and Adora spoke up.

“What happened to us?”

“What do you mean by _us_ Adora?”

“You know…”

Adora was blushing as she looked away and pointed to herself and then Catra. The sudden upbringing of this topic really threw Catra through a loop. She wasn’t sure how she should respond. At least she had enough clarity in her mind to answer when flustered unlike Adora.

“Was there even an us?” Catra answered in a usually shy tone.

“I thought there was.” Adora admitted.

“Well, that’s news to me because you never reciprocated any of my advances on you or flirtatious gestures.”

“You flirted with me?” Adora sounded dumbfounded. “And when did you try to make a move on me?”

“Adora, I couldn’t have made it more obvious for you! Handholding, pouncing on you, the whole ‘hey, Adora’ thing. I even slept in your bed!”

“Oh.” Adora was furiously blushing at this point.

“For gods sake Adora, even after you left, I carried around our blanket until it fell apart, because I missed you!” Catra admitted.

That made Adora laugh. “You what?”

“I kept it close for the longest time because it smelled like you, and when the smell went away, I would wrap myself in it because it reminded me of your warmth…” Catra was now at red as the jacket she was wearing.

“Catra, that’s actually really sweet.”

“I’m not the heartless bitch people say I am.”

“I know.”

Adora and Catra smiled as they embraced in a hug for the second time that day.

“This feels nice.” Adora was the first to speak as they held each other.

Catra sighed against her. “Yeah.”

They walked back over, hand in hand, to rejoin their friends who were packing up the last remnants of the campsite from the night before.

“Woah, look at you two now!” Scorpia eyed the pair. “Hey guys, I think they’ve got the whole ‘be harmonious thing down now.”

The rest of the group came over to investigate was Scorpia was making such a fuss about, when they were spotted still holding hands.

“Perfuma would be proud of your harmonious perfection.” Glimmer jokingly wiped a fake tear from her eye.

Adora rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong, this is super sweet, but we still have to figure out how She-Ra comes into play.” Bow stated.

“I can’t even turn into She-Ra! Trust me I tried…”

“You tried? What a nerd.” Adora laughed as Catra shoved her again.

“Obviously! I was trying to pretend to be you, and not being able to turn into She-Ra would give me away. Duh!”

“Uh huh. Totally not because you thought it would be cool to be a ‘super-hot warrior,’ your words, not mine.” Adora smiled, while Catra adverted her gaze.

“Maybe you can turn into She-Ra, Adora?” Entrapta cut into their bickering. “I would be interested to see you try.”

“No point in not trying I guess.” Adora shrugged her shoulders and picked up the Sword of Protection. She raised it above her head. “For the honor of Grayskull!”

…

…

Nothing.

“Well that was disappointing.” Entrapta simply stated before going off to record something.

“How are we supposed to bring She-Ra into this if neither one of us can transform into her!?” Adora asked as she moved away from the group and sat down on the ground, legs crossed, head in her hands, and thought hard about all of the information that they had gathered from trying to decipher Madame Razz’s riddles. They were always in sync when the sparred, they had solved their friendship? Relationship? That would be figured out later. And neither one of them could transform into She-Ra alone.

_Sparring…synchronization…She-Ra…_

_How do I put this all together?_

_Wait… sparring is like… which requires coordination… and we could us the sword to…_

She must have been inside her own head for too long, because when she came to Glimmer was squatted down and waving her hand in front of her face. “Uh, Etheria to Adora? Do you copy? You are kind of zoned out right now, you good?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine… I… I think I just had a breakthrough.” Adora said as she looked up at her friend.

“Really?!” Glimmer asked in a surprised voice.

“Yes, I just need you to hold the sword and be ready when I ask for it.” Adora stated.

“The sword, got it.” She said as she went to retrieve the weapon.

Adora stood up from the ground, dusted off her clothes, and walked over to where Catra was sitting. “I think I know what we have to do.”

She had a determined look in her eyes and Catra was taken aback by the ferocity in them. “Cool… what exactly is it?”

“Catra, dance with me.” She held out a hand for her to take.

“Really, Adora?”

“Trust me.”

Catra took hold of Adora’s hand as she stood. “I’ll lead okay?”

“Uhhhhh…sure? How exactly is this supposed…? Catra’s thoughts were interrupted as Adora stepped closer and placed her right hand on Catra’s waist and took ahold of her left hand.

“Put your left hand on my shoulder.” Catra obliged as Adora pulled them closer together.

“Ah, what are you guys doing?” Scorpia asked as she looked at the pair.

“Shhhhhhh Scorpia! They’re having a moment!” Bow shushed her.

Glimmer joined them with the sword.

“Also, Glimmer why do you have the sword?” He asked.

“Adora told me to ‘be ready’ whatever that means.” She shrugged her shoulders.

Entrapta then joined them to watch too. “Ooooooo, what is happening!”

Both girls were too consumed by each other that they had forgotten about their audience. They tried to tune them out as best as possible.

“Ready?” Adora asked.

“I guess? What dance are we even supposed to be doing anyway?” Catra queried.

“Remember Princess Prom?”

Catra nodded. “Yeah?”

“That one but modified slightly for only two people and no fighting at the end.” Catra gave her a doubtful look but Adora continued. “Just go with it.”

Adora began leading Catra into a slow methodical stride as she let go of her waist and hand in favor of a position more familiar to them. She linked their left hands together and they began circling one another.

Adora giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Catra furrowed her brows.

“It’s weird being the short one now.” She said through a smile.

“Short? Adora, we are literally the same height!”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself Catra.”

Catra rolled her eyes as Adora let go of her hand and moved her hold to her hip.

“Do they always argue when they dance?” Scorpia asked as she continued to watch.

Glimmer shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, it’s kind of their thing.”

The girls continued to talk as they circled each other once more.

Catra smiled back at her. “You know what? I bet… I’m even taller than you.”

“Pppsssttt, yeah right, now you’re just being ridiculous.” She mocked.

“Adora, you wear shoes, I’m barefoot. If you were barefoot too, I’d be taller.”

“We’ll settle this later, just focus on the now.”

Adora lead Catra into a twirl by her right hand before she leaned back against her chest.

“A twirl? Really classing in up huh Adora.”

Adora smiled and then there was a mischievous look in her eyes. “I’ve been waiting to do this since prom.”

Before Catra could respond, she found herself slung into a dip, right leg in between her own thighs, as she looked up at Adora still inhabiting her body. There was a sense of determination in those eyes, but Catra couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

Adora then flung Catra outwards holding her by the wrist as she called out for Glimmer.

“Glimmer! Sword now!” She held the sword out to Adora, hilt facing her, as she took it in her left hand and swung it inwards.

“Woah! Watch where you point that thing!” Catra was slightly spooked.

“Grab onto the handle!” Adora demanded.

Catra did so as Adora pulled them flush together and raised the sword above their heads.

“Say the words with me, okay?”

“Adora, how is this supposed…”

“Just do it!”

Catra was surprised by the directness in Adora’s tone, so she decided to stop questioning her.

“Ready?”

Catra nodded.

“On the count of three.” She began to count. “One. Two. Three!”

“FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!” The both said synchronized.

…

…

A flash of blinding light surrounded them, and their bodies lit up with a tingling sensation that was not unbearable, but certainly not comfortable. The light faded and what was revealed stunned the girls forgotten audience. There stood She-Ra and Catra, hands still clutched to the raised Sword of Protection, bodies still flush against one another, free arms wrapped around each other with their eyes closed. After a few seconds the blinding light was completely gone and She-Ra had returned back to Adora, the energy of transformation seemingly draining her. Their hold on one another begins slipping and both girls collapse onto the ground. Their friends immediately rush over to them. Adora was the first to stir.

“Ugh, what happened? Adora looked down at herself and her eyes widened. “I’M BACK IN MY OWN BODY!”

Adora clutched her arms to her chest effectively giving herself a hug. Bow and Glimmer quickly ran over to join her, pulling her up to a standing position and wrapping her in hugs.

That’s when she heard Catra beginning to wake up. Adora headed over to where Catra was still lying on the ground.

“Adora…?” She called out.

“I’m here Catra.”

Catra looked around. She saw Adora leaning over her and decided she didn’t want to be lying on the ground anymore. A far too vulnerable position for her liking, especially with this many people around. She was beginning to sit up, when a pain coursed through her.

“SON OF A BITCH ADORA! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BODY?!” Catra shouted as she clutched her sides and Adora sprung back from her leaning position.

“I may have fallen off a tower of boxed, landed on my side, and passed out.” Adora offered her a hand and Catra sighed as she took it and slowly began to stand.

“Idiot.” Catra called her when she was fully upright.

“Guess cats don’t always land on their feet. Glimmer giggled and that pun earned a pity laugh out of the rest of the group.

“Oh, you do **not** get to make the jokes now.” Catra said.

“Whatever furball.” Glimmer fired back.

They laughed at one another.

Fully standing now, Catra turned her attention to Scorpia and Entrapta.

“Well… I guess it’s time to go back, huh?” Catra asked the group.

Scorpia and Entrapta shared a knowing look between one another.

“We actually have decided not to go back to the Horde…” Scorpia said reluctantly, not knowing how Catra would react.

Catra was in shock. “What?!”

Entrapta nodded. “We talked it over with Glimmer and Bow and they honestly just seem nicer. Plus, there’s no easier way to get First One’s tech from the only person that it seems to cooperate with. Bow even talked about all the artifacts that his dads have in their Library!”

“They’ve even offered to let us stay at Bright Moon if you want to come too.” Scorpia said hopefully.

Catra looked over at Adora and saw her smiling and giggling as Bow and Glimmer clung to her once again. She looked so happy with them.

_Maybe, I could be that happy with her again too_. Catra thought.

Adora caught her staring and winked at her. Fucking winked!

_Cheeky bastard._ Catra playfully flipped her off. “You know, I don’t think that’s such a bad idea after all.

“Really wildcat! You’re going to join us?!” Scorpia was almost crushing her with a hug right now.

“Yeah… yeah… let me just go talk to them.” Catra slowing began walking over to the Best Friend Squad to declare her proposition. “Can I talk to you guys?”

“Sure, what about.” Adora looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Catra cleared her throat. “It seems that Scorpia and Entrapta have been invited to stay in Bright Moon, guess they changed sides or some shit, but I was just wondering…”

“You want us to invite you too?” Glimmer asked with a smirk.

_Geez were all princesses this smug?_ Catra thought, but she didn’t try to deny it.

“I don’t know… what to you guys think? I don’t know if we can trust her…” Bow said that in the most inconvincible teasing tone ever.

_Check that, everyone in this fucking Rebellion was smug._ She thought.

“I think she’ll fit in just fine.” Adora grabbed her hand pulled her into a tight hug.

“Guess that was already decided…” Glimmer said as she watched the two embrace.

They all boarded the skiff and headed back to Bright Moon.

* * *

During their ride back to Bright Moon, the Best Friend Squad and Super Pal Trio looked happier than they have been in a long time. Glimmer and Bow leaned over the side of the skiff, completely mesmerized by the recovery of the Whispering Woods, Adora and Catra sat side by side in the back with their fingers interlaced on Adora’s lap, Scorpia was steering the ride once again and Entrapta was in her own little world. She still seemed perplexed by the solution to regaining their original bodies.

Glimmer and Bow turned back to face the rest of the group and they noticed the confused expression on Entrapta’s face.

“Should we be concerned about her?” Glimmer asked.

Catra waved a hand. “Nah, she just gets lost in her own head sometimes.”

“Don’t we all?” Bow said.

“Yeah, but she literally can’t focus on anything else until a situation can be scientifically explained.” Catra went on.

“Oh! I think I know how you did it Adora!” Entrapta finally spoke again since getting on this skiff.

“Did what…” Adora asked.

“The body thing idiot.” Catra shoved her by the shoulders.

She smiled. “Oh.”

“Dancing required synchronization, which wouldn’t have been possible if their past harmony wasn’t reestablished, and if Adora and Catra were technically themselves and each other at the same time it would require them both to hold the sword in order to access She-Ra’s powers! Brilliant!” Entrapta cheered.

“Glad you figured that out Entrapta.” Catra flashed her a genuine smile.

The light from the Moonstone could begin to be seen as the skiff approached the outer lands of Bright Moon. Catra thought it looked even brighter than when she had left yesterday.

_How is that even possible?_ She thought.

They had reached the gated and disembarked the skiff and headed into the castle.

* * *

Back inside that familiar hallway in Bright Moon, Scorpia and Entrapta were taken to their rooms as Glimmer and Bow escorted them, leaving Adora and Catra alone. She noticed that Adora was starting to walk towards her room and Catra followed.

“Welcome back I guess?” Adora held open the door to her room, it looked and smelled the same way it did two days ago.

“A little presumptuous of you to assume that I’d want to stay in your room Adora.” Catra said in a teasing tone.

Adora flushed pink. “Oh! I… I was just showing you where my room was, but you already knew that. Hahaha…”

_She’s way too easy to mess with_. Catra thought. _I’ve missed this_.

“Calm down, it’s fine. It’ll be just like old times, right?”

“Right.”

Catra entered the room and Adora shut the door behind them. “The décor in this place is awful!”

“Eh, you learn to love it.” Adora had her back turned towards Catra as she was rummaging through one of the drawers in her dresser. “So, do you want some pjs or are you good in what you’re in?

“I’ll take some if you have an extra set.” That made Adora look back at her. “What?! They were pretty comfortable when I was you.”

“Uh…huh. You sure it’s not just because they smell like me?” Adora could read right through her.

“That’s just a bonus princess.” She winked and Adora threw a t-shirt and a pair of shorts directly at her face.

“Put those on and I’ll be right back.” Adora grabbed her set of pjs and headed towards the bathroom to change. Catra slipped out of her jumpsuit and put on the t-shirt and shorts that she was given. The t-shirt was loose on her frame and the shorts hugged her hips. Adora emerged from the bathroom in a tank top and a matching pair of shorts. She started to head for the bed before Catra called out.

“Wait, before you do that, come over here.”

“Uh, why?”

“Adora, I did a lot of questionable stuff for you today. This is the least thing you can do for me.”

Adora let out a breath of frustration as she walked towards Catra. They were standing face to face now as Catra glanced up and body the length of Adora’s body, which made her blush. Catra noticed this and she chuckled before sticking her index finger to Adora’s forehead.

“See, same height.” Catra said with a smile.

Adora slapped her hand away. “Ugh! You’re ridiculous!”

“What?” Catra began inching closer to her. “Did you think…” She draped her hands behind her neck. “I was going…” Adora grabbed onto Catra’s waist. “To do something else…” She pulled their bodies together. “…Adora?”

It was a question asking for permission and Adora answered that question as she closed the last gap remaining between them with a kiss. It was short, but sweet, they’d have time to really catch up later. Now, they were exhausted from the transformation of getting their bodies back and all they wanted to do was lay down and sleep.

They headed over to the bed and cuddled up together, just like they had woken up in the forest this morning, and drifted off to sleep, both feeling more content than they had in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again for your support! This was a super fun story to write and I hope you liked the ending! I knew how I wanted to end it since the beginning lol. I love Catra and Adora's dynamic and I just hope that Noelle will give them a canon happy ending. Also, I have a lot planned ahead, so make sure you follow me on Tumblr @simplyabsolute for updates about upcoming fics.


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